Research Paper On Haiti Earthquake

Haiti Earthquake 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
did everything they could to help the innocent, suffering people of Haiti.
An earthquake is a tremor in the earth caused by a sudden release of energy in the Earth’s crust that creates seismic waves. The depth of this earthquake in Haiti was very shallow, meaning that the energy that was released is very close to the surface, which can also be another characteristic that causes some violent ground shaking," -Bedwell (“What Caused the Devastating Haiti Earthquake?”)These energy releases can be the result of stressed tectonic plates, or in the case of last year’s earthquake in Haiti, the cause was a rupture of the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault that had been locked in and gathering stress for nearly 250 years. "The two sides of the fault line moved past each other in an east-west direction and that's what caused the energy release and the Haiti earthquakes," (“What Caused the Devastating Haiti Earthquake?”); this created a 7.0 magnitude quake, resulting in the nation’s capital suffering from intense shaking, and undergoing devastation. Haiti is a Caribbean nation, it was the first independent nation in Latin America, and the only nation ever created in result of a successful slave rebellion, unfortunately it soon became recognized as the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. After hearing about the intense devastation brought on from this earthquake, American joined forces through social networking to help fight the cause. “50% of American household donated to help Haiti, social media helped with gathering donation; Facebook group called Earthquake Haiti had 265,000 members the Monday after the disaster and twitter # Haiti was updating faster than one a second.” (Palser, “Vital but Complementary; While Social Media Played a Key Role During the Earthquake in Haiti”). The high levels of poverty could be seen in the buildings and the entire infrastructure of the nation, which contributed much to the damage caused by the earthquake in 2010, luckily most people tuned in to help this poor country through the suffering.
The earthquake caused an enormous destruction in the Caribbean nation.
Hospitals and government buildings collapsed along with an unbelievable amount of homes, “killing an estimated 220,000 people and displacing 1.3 million more.”(“What Caused the Devastating Haiti Earthquake?”). The disaster added more misery to people already struggling to get by with everyday life. “The homeless and fearful survivors took shelter under tarps on the grounds outside the Prime Minister’s office.” (Susman, “Haiti In Anguish”). Two horribly damaged hospitals had no doctors or medical workers on duty. Most of the patients were hooked up to IV’s by relatives. The earthquake in Haiti cost the nation's economy at least 15% of its domestic product and Haiti could not afford to recover from it by themselves, medical and financial aid was needed. Many foundations and organizations have and continue to provide aid to Haiti in all means necessary, such as the American Red Cross
Association. The Haiti earthquake affected 3 million people, left 1 million homeless, injured 250,000 people, and took the lives of 170,000 innocent victims. The reason for such a disaster can be lead to the low poverty rate in Haiti, way before the earthquake hit. The victims of the earthquake in Haiti are dealing with effects including physical damage and economic turmoil, however, they are also benefiting from one positive effect: the help from the world around them, coming together to as one to assist those in need. The destruction that Haiti is suffering from this catastrophic effect is mind-blowing and jaw-dropping, hopefully Haiti will someday manage to get back on its feet again and develop further as a country.
The Earthquake in Haiti can easily be deemed as one of the most horrific and disastrous earthquakes in history. Many people lost their lives and people are still suffering 2 years after from the side effects of the event, like poverty and displacement. After the initial chaos caused by the earthquake in Port-au-Prince, the world stepped together to aid the reconstruction of Haiti, by immediately creating emergency teams to rescue trapped people, clearing debris and restoring water and sanitation to prevent the spread of diseases. Most of the word spread through social networking, helps bring the world together and fight for the survival of one of our nations, Haiti.