Haiti Quake of 2010

On January 12th, 2010, Tuesday afternoon, a fierce earthquake struck Port-au-Prince, Haiti causing a crowded hospital to collapse, leveled countless dwellings, and brought even more suffering to a nation that was already the poorest and most disaster-prone in its hemisphere. Haiti has also gone through multiple previous natural disasters. When Haiti was a French colony, French historian recorded many earthquakes. In Port-au-Prince in the year 1757, one earthquake was so big that only one stonework building hadn’t collapsed. In 1770, the whole city of Port-au-Prince collapsed due to an earthquake according to Moreau de Saint-Mery. North of Haiti, Dominican Republic, and the Sans-Souci Palace, other towns were demolished from an earthquake on May of 1842. An earthquake with a magnitude of 8.0 hit the Dominican Republic and made Haiti shake on August of 1946, producing a killer tsunami that took the lives of 1,790 people and injured others. The Haiti earthquake of January 2010 consisted a magnitude of 7.0, that occurred local approximately sixteen miles from Port-au-Prince with 8.1 miles as its depth. Occuring on blind thrust faults connected with the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault system. There is no evidence of surface rupture. Recorded in Port-au-Prince on the Modified Mercalli scale, there was intense shaking connected with intensity IX. The earthquake was a result of a rupture of the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault that was locked for 250 years, all the while collecting stress. Because the earthquake occurred on blind thrust faults, the quake was also felt in several surrounding countries and regions leaving them vulnerable: Guantanamo, Cuba; Kingston, Jamaica; Caracas, Venezuela; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and the bordering region Santo-Domingo, Dominican Republic. According to the US Geological Survey, the number of people living in the area that experienced a shaking intensity of MM VII was approximately 3.5 million. According to the United States Geological Survey, there were eight aftershocks in the first two hours after the major earthquake. They had magnitudes between 4.3 and 5.9. Inside the first nine hours there were 32 aftershocks with magnitudes of 4.2 or more recorded, 12 which measured 5.0 or more and on the 24th January. US General Survey reported that there were 52 aftershocks measuring 4.5 or more since the earthquake on the 12th January. The strongest aftershock from the main earthquake had a magnitude of 5.9 that hit Haiti. Reported a UN representative, the aftershock destroyed seven buildings in its town. The International Committee of the Red Cross staff, who quickly reached Petit-Goave for the first time a day right before the aftershock, said the town of Petit-Goave was estimated to have lost less than 20 percent of its buildings, and was suffered the same limited supplies and medical care as the capital. After the earthquake was over, the beach of Petit Paradise was struck by a local tsunami wave that was caused by an underwater slide. There were at least three victims swept out to sea by the powerful tsunami and were sadly found dead. The Haiti earthquake caused one of Petionvilles hospitals, located in a rich suburb of Port-au-Prince, to fall and so did the St. Michael District Hospital, located in the Southern town of Jaomel. This hospital was the largest referral in southeast Haiti. The earthquake significantly damaged the control tower at the Toussaint L’Ouverture International Airport. Because of the destruction to the Port-au-Prince seaport, the harbor couldn’t be used for immediate rescue operations, but Gonaives seaport located in northern Haiti did work. In Leogane, the mayor reported 90 percent of its town’s buildings had been shattered. The prison in Port-au-Prince was also shattered which allowed about 4,000 inmates to escape. Minister of Education Joel Jean-Pierce affirmed that the education system had completely fallen. Almost half of the nation’s schools along with the three main universities located in Port-au-Prince were hit. Over 1,300 schools and 50 health care facilities were shattered. The Haitian art world also suffered many great losses; such as destroyed artworks, museums and art galleries. Following with them, Port-au-Prince’s main art museum. More than 200,000 people were killed by the quake and another 1.5 million were left homeless, with 8 to 14 billion dollars in damage. Among the nights after the earthquake, a lot of people in Haiti had to sleep in the streets, on the pavements, in their own cars, or in crude shanty towns because they were terrified that what was left of their homes would not survive the aftershocks. This was because structures on the land were mainly built where they can fit; some of the buildings had to be built on slopes lacking foundations or steel works. The country was also short of fuel and portable water. This was even before the disaster occurred. The United States took control of the airport after consent by the government to speed up and ease the flight operations, which were vulnerable by the destruction to the air-traffic control tower. About a thousand corpses had been placed on the streets. Government crews gathered big trucks to collect thousands more bodies, having to bury them in huge graves. Because of such high heat and humidity, all the bodies that were buried began to rot and smell. The unpleasant smell of bodies hung in the air. Some of the bodies had to be buried in above-ground tombs. Others that were left had to be burned. A Vodou priest protested the lack of dignity in mass burials, saying that it wasn’t in his culture to bury people in such a fashion and that it was a desecration. Human rights were violated during the days after the earthquake. From the slow delivery of resources resulted in irregular violence, with a lot of looting being reported. There had also been looters who were wounded or even killed by others and neighborhoods that had built their own roadblock barricades. A General Hospital doctor in Port-au-Prince claimed that wrong information and overblown reports of so much violence had slowed the delivery of aid and medical services. Thousands of homeless people were sent to live in tent camps and over the days, local rights groups pointed to overcrowding, frequent thefts and rapes, and little police presence. Previous US president Bill Clinton sought out the problems and said Americans should not be deterred from the sustaining relief effort by cruel scenes such as those of looting. Lieutenant General P.K. Keen, who is the deputy commander of US Southern Command, however, said that even though there were looting and violence, violent crime decreased in Port-au-Prince after the earthquake then before it. Various aid organizations sent out appeals for humanitarian aid by the United Nations, and president Rene Preval. Many countries accepted the appeals and acted upon them. They set started fund-raising efforts, and sent out search and rescue teams. The first country to give aid to Haiti was the Dominican Republic. They sent food, water, and heavy lifting machinery. United effort of the airports department, the Dominican Naval Auxiliaries, the UN, and other teams made up the Dominican-Haitian Aerial Support Bridge. This made the top Dominican airports vacant for support operations to Haiti. Ethical issues arose shortly after. Since the roads were broken and blocked with a lot of debris, the main road that connected Port-au-Prince with Jaomel remained blocked about ten days after the earthquake. This slowed down the delivery process of aid to Jaomel. News reporters asked one civilian why the road had not been opened and he said that they asked the same questions to the people who were in charge and that they promised rapid response. Wondering why it hasn’t been done and thinking that their priority must have been somewhere else. There also was significant damage to communication systems. The public telephone system wasn’t usable, and two of the largest cellular telephone systems of Haiti both reported that their services had too been interfered by the earthquake. So, many were unable to call for help and there was nothing they or anyone could do about it. Various orphanages were damaged in the earthquake. After the course for the adoption of 400 children by families in the US and the Netherlands was sped up, an immediate stop to adoptions from Haiti was issued. Chief executive of “Save the Children,” Jasmine Whitbread, claimed that the big majority of the kids presently on their own still have some family members alive who will desperately want to be reunited with them and will have the right support to be able to care for them. Taking children out of the country would permanently separate thousands of children from their families. A separation that would compound the acute trauma they are already suffering and inflict long term damage on their chances of recovery.” Thousands of people were left homeless and were sent to live in tent camps. Over the days, local rights groups pointed to overcrowding, frequent thefts and rapes, and little, sometimes no police presence. Some people living in the tent camps were forced to leave the camps simply because the rent went up and they couldn’t afford to pay it anymore. US air traffic controllers at Toussaint L’Ouverture International Airport consistently turned away an MSF airplane that was carrying a field hospital. Four other MSF aircraft were also turned away. On the 19th of January in a press release, MSF said that it was like working in a war situation. They were out of morphine to control pain for their patients. They also couldnt accept that planes that were carrying lifesaving medical equipment and supplies to continue to be turned away while their patients died. They also said that the priority must be given to medical supplies coming into the country. There were first responders who noticed the frustration with the number of relief trucks just sitting there unused at the airport. Some aid workers blamed the US-controlled airport operations for signifying the transportation of security troops over the rescuers and supplies. The evacuation policies favoring citizens of certain nations were also critical. The International Red Cross Code of Ethics applied to the Haiti quake. Aid was given to the survivors and injured regardless of race, creed, or nationality; aid was not used to advance a certain political or religious stand-point; culture and custom was respected; disaster responses were built on local capacities; relief aid strived to lower future weaknesses to disaster as well as having to meet basic needs; all of the humanitarian assistance was held responsible to both the ones they have to assist and those from whom they accept resources; and the humanitarians treated disaster victims as the dignified human beings they are, not like hopeless objects. A lot of humanitarian assistance took place after the quake. Coordinating early medical relief was held by the Dominican Red Cross uniting with the International Red Cross. Eight mobile medical units were sent by the government along with 36 doctors: anesthetists, orthopedic specialists, surgeons, and traumatologist. The Dominican emergency team gave assistance to over 2,000 injured victims, while the Dominican Institute of Telecommunications helped to restore some of the telephone services. Also, there were 39 trucks that carried canned food. Working without mobile kitchens, there were 110 cooks who could produce 100,000 meals per day. Many other nations farther away also sent medicines, workers, material, and other aid to Haiti. Luckily, ICE-SAR from Iceland ended up being the first team to arrive in Port-au-Prince. Following them was a 50-member team that arrived early Thursday morning. The government of Qatar from the middle east, sent a transport airplane which was loaded with 50 tons of critical relief materials and about 26 members from the internal security force, the Qatari armed forces, the Hamad medical Corporation, and from the police force to set up a hospital and to also give assistance in Port-au-Prince along with other affected areas in Haiti. The Israel Defense Forces Home Front Command sent a rescue team, created a field hospital next to the UN building in Port-au-Prince with particular services to treat the elderly, children and the pregnant women who were in labor. It took eight hours to set it up and soon took action on the January 16th. The American Red Cross had run out of supplies in Haiti and was forced to appeal for public donations on January 13th. They worked fast to get as much important medicines and supplies on the ground. The largest provider of healthcare in rural Haiti, Partners in Health (PIH), was able to give some of the emergency from each of their ten clinics and hospitals because they weren’t out of the capital and were not damaged. MINUSTAH had more than 9,000 recruiters who were uniformed set out to the area. Most of these workers were mostly involved in searching for survivors. By January 14th military personnel was sent to the country with the help from more than 20 countries. The U.S., Dominican Republic, and Canada provided the largest group. The main carrier, USS Carl Vinson, came at its quickest possible speed with an enhanced wing of 19 helicopters, close to 100,000 ten-liter water containers, and 600,000 emergency food rations on January 15th. On the first day there was 130,000 liters of drinking water were transported to the shore. In Leogane, it was the British search and rescue teams who were the first to arrive on January 17th. The Canadian ship HMCS Athabaskan arrived in the area on the 19th, and by the next day, there were about 250-300 Canadian workers helping relief efforts in the town, which was severely damaged. All the people there needed assistance fast. The Canadian workers also had reached Petit-Goave as well, there they set up two first aid posts and gave out first aid kits. Instantly following the earthquake, the Real Medicine Foundation began giving medical supplies, planned coordination, and medical staffing to help meet the surgical needs of the health crises. Real Medicine worked closely with other relief organizations and arranged volunteer medical specialists to meet the needs of hospitals and clinics in Port-au-Prince and at the Haiti-Dominican Republic border. They supplied medical supplies, direct funding and pharmaceuticals to the nearest health facilities, including coordinated mobile health outreaches, and physical therapy support, a supply of food, and field clinics to distant village that were overlooked in the relief effort. During the first weekend there were 70,000 water containers and 130,000 food packets set out to Haitians. There were almost 2,000 rescuers at hand from 43 different groups, with a shocking 161 search dogs. By the end of the weekend the airport had held 250 tons of relief supplies. There were at least 12 survivors pulled from Port-au-Princes debris with the total number of rescues to be 110. Two laws were enacted in response to this natural disaster. The “Public Law” (111-126) is a new federal tax law passed on January 22nd in response to the great support offered by American taxpayers in connection with relief efforts for those affected by the earthquake in Haiti. This law gives taxpayers acceleration of tax deduction and record keeping relief. The second law enacted was the “Haiti Debt Relief and Earthquake Recovery Act of 2010.” This law cancelled all remaining debits owed by Haiti, and with provision of emergency, humanitarian and reconstruction assistance from such institutions to Haiti, in the form of grants or non-debt assistance. When January 22nd came, the United States and the Nation officialized the management of relief efforts by signing an agreement that gave the United States accountability for the airports, ports, roads, and for making the Haitian and the United Nation authorities accountable for law and order. The United Nation affirmed that it had refused to go along with making the relief effort of the organization official to allow as much layaway as they can for those who wish to help out in the relief effort, but agreeing to leave that emergency phase behind. Organizations were also advised by the United Nation to organize aid efforts through its mission in Haiti in order to allow for a better schedule of the coming of supplies. The Haitian government legitimately called off looking for survivors on January 23rd, and shortly after, most of the search and rescue teams started to prepare to leave the country. On the other hand, on February 8th, there were survivors still being found. A 28 year old man named Evan Muncie was found in the debris of a grocery store. President Barack Obama declared to make efforts to increase funds for Haiti’s recovery with the help from former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Hillary Clinton, the Secretary of State, took a trip to Haiti on the 16th of January to look over the damage and confirmed that about $48 million had already been raised in the United States to help out with Haiti’s recovery. After the meeting with Hilary Clinton, President Preval had confirmed that the most expensive priorities in Haiti’s recovery were coming up with a working government, clearing the roads, and making certain the streets were cleared of books to advance sanitary conditions. Distant governments gave some of the most needed financial aid in response to the earthquake. You have the European Union who guaranteed $330 million for long term and emergency aid, and Brazil who declared $375 million for its long term recovery aid and $25 million of it which went to immediate funds. Douglas Alexander, who is the United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for International Development, had announced that the result of the earthquake was almost an extraordinary level of destruction and dedicated the United Kingdom to $20 million in aid. Meanwhile, France had dedicated $10 million in aid. Italy confirmed that it would let go of the repayment of the $40 million that it had let Haiti borrow, and the World Bank decided to end the country’s debt repayments for five years. The United States government stated that it would hand over $100 million to the aid effort on January 14th and made a vow that the citizens of Haiti would not be forgotten. Also In the outcome of the Haiti earthquake, the Canada government had confirmed that it would give the same donations of Canadians up to a grand total of $50 million. There was a call for help for the people who were affected by the earthquake to the United Nations; Canada made a promise to give an additional $60 million in aid on January 19th, which brought Canada’s total donation sum to $135 million. The Federal International Co-operation Department gave great donations and had a lot of help doing so. Going through the CIDA, which is the Canadian International Development Agency, they had already supplied about $85 million in humanitarian aid by February 8th. With the help through the International Federation of Red Cross, the United Nation agencies, the Red Crescent Societies, and to the institutions such as Save the Children, CARE, the Center for International Studies and Co-operation, the Oxfam Quebec, and the World Vision. On the day of January 23rd, Stephen Harper, the Canadian Prime Minister, had stated that the federal government had increased the lowest amount of funds assigned for matching individual contributions until the 12th of February. There was a deadline to do so and by that deadline, the Canadians had secretly raised $220 million. Adding on to the matching funds, the International Co-operation Minister promised an extra $290 million in long term relief. Only to be spent in 2010 and 2012. This included $8 million to Haiti in debt relief, which was part of a wider termination of the country’s total World Bank debt. All together, the government’s pledge to obtain $550 million in aid and debt relief along with the Canadian’s separate contributions came out to a sum of $770 million. As a significant idea, numerous institutions of the United States government and building industry, like the International Code Council and the Department of Homeland Security, had stated that they were creating a “Haiti Toolkit” thought of by the National Institute of Building Sciences. That toolkit was going to include building technology assets and the greatest practices for concern by the Haitian government having the goal to produce a tougher infrastructure to stop future deaths.

References 1. Winter, D. (2012, August 26). “Haiti” .NewYorkTimes. Retrieved April 15th, 2013, from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/13/world/americas/13haiti.htm 2. Thomson Reuters Foundation. (2012, March 14). “Haiti Earthquake 2010”. Retrieved April 15th, 2013, from http://www.trust.org/alertnet/crisis-centre/crisis/haiti-earthquake-2010 3. Community Foundation. (2010, January 28). “New Federal Tax Law Passed to Aid in Providing Relief to the Victims of the Earthquake in Haiti (Public Law 111-126)”. Retrieved April 16th, 2013, from http://cfsem.org/about-us/latest-happenings/new-federal-tax-law-passed-aid-providing-relief-victims-earthquake-haiti 4. Wikipedia. (2012, November 14). “2010 Haiti earthquake”. Retrieved April 16th, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki2010_Haiti_earthquake