The disaster will weigh on Japan's economic growth through negative impact on consumption, capex projection, and lower capacity to ship export. On the other hand, reconstruction demand in the phase of recovery will have positive impact on reconstruction of housing, replacement of production equipments (i.e. capex), government expenditure, and public investment. If we aggregate those negative and positive impacts, quarterly real GDP growth will be pushed down by a total of -2.1% points for Jan-Mar and Apr-Jun quarters. But reconstruction demand thereafter will push up real GDP growth rates for Jul-Sep and Oct-Dec quarters by a total of +0.9% points. Those said, we revise down our real GDP forecast for FY2011 to almost zero%. The earthquake will have negative impact both on actual household consumption expenditure and on their sentiments, which, in turn, will make households increase precautionary saving. However, strong reconstruction demand in the recovery phase will result in a +2.3% real GDP growth for FY2012. On the price front, we point out that the impact of the disaster will be inflationary rather than deflationary.…
The first problem that puts Haiti at risk of catastrophes is where the country is located. The geography of Haiti makes this country exceptionally susceptible to the effects of climate change. Haiti is located near the western region of Hispaniola and is west of the Dominican Republic. Being a large coastal area, Haiti is at risk of hurricanes and other natural disasters. The region between the Caribbean and North America is extremely prone to earthquakes. Leonard Pitts says in response to the earthquake “Haiti's turn this morning, two days after the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere saw its capital city smashed by the strongest earthquake it has ever known, a 7.0-magnitude…
I interviewed my mom for this report, her name is Laura Ryan. At the time of the earthquake her name was Laura Hrubesch, she wasn’t even married yet. She was working for a company named Standard Register and living in Los Altos. She told me she will always remember that day. It was one of the scariest days of her life.…
Haiti is one of the world’s poorest nations in the western hemisphere, which is still suffering the impact and devastation of the earthquake today. A nation so often on its knees had been knocked to the ground. (Clinton). On January 12, 2012 Haiti was struck by an earthquake with 7.0 magnitudes. Many Haitians suffered while others lost their lives. The earthquake shred many homes leaving many people homeless. Many towns got ruined and wrecked, even cities got ripped apart and drowned. The churches were crumbled and schools and banks. The best and fanciest hotels in town were crumbled…
The impacts can be split into categories such as social, economic and environmental in order to gauge the range of impacts and whether they depended predominantly on human factors. For example, we can compare the social impacts of the Haitian earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale with the 1994 Northridge earthquake in L.A, measuring a similar 6.7. The amount of fatalities and injuries in Haiti was extreme, over 230,000 died and many more were injured. This impact could be argued to have been due to human factors as the capital, Port au Prince, was poorly built as well as this, the earthquake hit the most densely populated area of…
“People poured out into the streets, crying, carrying bodies…” (Addley 1) Haiti is one of the poorest countries and home to more than 2 million people. Haiti was not prepared especially since Port-au-Prince, their capital, has very poorly built construction on its buildings and houses. “Haiti is a poor country with lax building standards and high population density, which makes buildings more likely to crumble.” (Thompson 1) Due to the earthquake and all the damage that happened it caused people to lose their homes and had to sleep in tents on the highway.…
Granted, the entire cascade of events associated with this natural disaster was very unfortunate and disheartening. But, the Haitian nation was simply not adequately prepared to prevent the effects of the earthquake from reaching as far as they did. As a result, a mind boggling question has been raised: could simple efforts have caused this catastrophe to have been less catastrophic? This research topic is being explored by building officials, architects, and designers worldwide who seek to lessen earthquake-related effects on society (Jain). As living standards rise and urbanism spreads in the modern world, the potentiality for earthquake-related catastrophe has spiked. Therefore, cautious steps must be taken to decrease the level of all earthquake-related catastrophes in developing countries while technology behind earthquake resistant architecture is reengineered and…
On January 12, 2012, the country of Haiti was struck by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake that changed the lives of people living across the nation. The earthquake struck Haiti before 5pm and was centered about 10 miles South East of Port-au-Prince, which is the capital city of Haiti. This earthquake is known as one of the most powerful earthquakes of the century that hit the Eastern parts of Cuba. Prior to the earthquake Haiti acquired the lowest immunization rates in the world (55%) and disease was very common, as well as extreme poverty, political unrest and weak infrastructure (Hinman, “Cholera Vaccination in Haiti; Evidence, Ethel, Expedience”). In results of the earthquake in Haiti, Haiti has been left in a poorer economic condition than before. Due to this natural disaster, many innocent lives were taken away. The number of casualties kept increasing as the bodies of children were being discovered under the destroyed rumble. People all over the world watched a tragedy unfold and…
January 12th, 2010 is an unforgettable day for most. It was a day in which many lives were either lost, ruined, or in rare cases, changed for the better, resulting in an even more positive outlook on life amid the devastation. One of these rare cases includes the life of Helly Florian, a young survivor of the infamous earthquake of Haiti back in 2010. She has not forgotten, and will never forget, her interaction with a rather deadly and calamitous adversary of nature.…
Haiti is part of the Caribbean, the Caribbean is a region that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands, and the surrounding coasts. Haiti is known for its food, dances, and music. Around the 1980s Haiti was known for their best coffee. I know that Haiti had went through a terrible earthquake January, 12, 2010. Haiti is a unique country because it is the first Black Country to have independence.…
The first one I want to talk about is the earthquake that hit Haiti in 2010. By January 24th, at least 52 aftershocks (a smaller earthquake following the main shock of a large earthquake), measuring 4.5 or greater had been recorded. An estimate of three million people were affected by the earthquake. Death toll estimates ranged from 100,000 to 160,000. 316 total had been affected overall. Estimated 250,000 residences and 30,000 commercial buildings had fell down or had been severely damaged. Many people were willing to help Haiti, with sending medical teams and supplies and money. But all of the communication systems and all of the transport facilities were destroyed by the earthquake. No help could come. Port-au-Prince’s morgues were over crowded…
“Today, much of Port-au-Prince looks like it did before the quake,” states Peter Granitz. My experience of Haiti was the year…
Haiti is the second largest Caribbean Island. It occupies a third of the western part of the island it shares with the Dominican Republic. Haiti is also made up of several islands that surround the main territory. The capital is Port-au-Prince. It rains between November and March in the North of the island and between May and October in the South. “Once covered by forest, the country has been heavily logged for wood and fuel and to clear land for farming, and is now largely deforested.” Haiti is divided into “nine administrative departments.” Besides the capital, other important cities are Cap-Haitien and Gonaives. “Haiti is the most densely populated country in Latin America and has the lowest per capital income, with about half the people unemployed and three quarters living in the severest poverty.” Agriculture is the main economic activity in Haiti. The main crops grown are cassava, rice, sugarcane, sorghum, yams, corn, and plantains. The main exports are coffee, cotton, sugar, sisal, bauxite, and essences. The most predominant religion is Roman Catholicism. “Catholicism is enshrined in the Haitian constitution as the official state religion, and between 80 and 85% of Haitians are Catholics.” The religion of Voodoo is also practiced. “Vodou encompasses several different traditions, and consists of a mix encompassing African, European and indigenous Taìno religious elements.” It is unknown how many people practice Voodoo, but many practice it along with their Christian faith. Haiti has a rich culture that comes mostly from voodoo tribes. Haitian culture is a mixture of French, African elements, and native Taíno, with influence from the colonial Spanish. “The country's customs essentially are a blend of cultural beliefs that derived from the various ethnic groups that inhabited the island of Hispaniola.” “In nearly all aspects of modern Haitian society however, the European and African elements dominate. Haiti is…
The amount of damage caused by an Earthquake does not solely depend on the magnitude of the Earthquake. Factors such as population, geographic location, soil type, and the type of building material commonly used for construction in a region determine the extent of damage caused. If an Earthquake strikes a densely populated region, then life loss and property damage will be high. If an Earthquake of a similar or even higher magnitude strikes a region with a relatively low population, then life loss and property damage will be lower. The 6.4 Richter scale Earthquake (1993) in the State of Maharashtra, India and the 8.3 Richter scale Earthquake (2006) in Kuril Islands, Japan are examples that come to mind. With stone houses and a population of over 2 million, the Earthquake in Latur left nearly 8,000 people dead and brought as many as 30,000 houses to the ground. In contrast, Kuril Islands, with a population of just 17,000 and better disaster preparedness mechanisms, was able to get away with no loss of human life ,despite the fact that the Earthquake was much higher in magnitude when compared to that of Latur.…
In 2010, a huge earthquake hit Haiti and almost flattened the tiny country. A year later, in 2011, an equally huge if not bigger earthquake hit Japan. Many people were affected in Japan but now the country is running smoothly again while Haiti’s poverty rates are still as a high as 80%. Why did these earthquakes have such different effects on these countries? The most significant reason these earthquakes had such different effects is the simple matter that Japan is just much more prepared than Haiti due to more economic, political, and educational development.…