This earthquake was named Loma Prieta earthquake and occurred at a time of 5:04 (PDT) with a magnitude measurement of 6.9 and a surface wave magnitude of 7.1. The earthquake was caused by a slip in slip in San Andreas or a subsidiary and its epicenter was located ten miles northeast of the city Santa Cruz. The earthquake had also had a death toll of 62 people with the number of injured people reaching a amount of 3,757 ! Not only this however the earthquake had cost California approximately 6.8 billion dollars. This was because of many fires, houses with severe damages, and buildings with severe damages.
Why was the Haitian earthquake so deadly? On January 12th 2010 at 16:53 local time (21:53 GMT) an earthquake hit the Caribbean island of Haiti. It was a colossal 7.0 on the Richter scale and lasted around 35 seconds, but inflicted a cataclysm which would take years to correct. It struck south of the capital Port-au-Prince destroying the presidential palace, UN HQ, as well as houses, schools and public buildings. The epicentre was a town named Leogane; about 19km (12 miles) west of Port-au-Prince, thousands were left homeless and up to 80-90% of buildings in Leogane were destroyed.
This poses a great earthquake hazard to Haiti. But, the disaster was initially caused when the Caribbean plate had a transform with the North American plate. The North and South American plate were moving in a westward direction, while the Caribbean plate was unable to move. This meant that the North American plate had to slide across the Caribbean plate, forcing tension to be built up, and ultimately releasing all the energy in the form of an earthquake. Because Haiti is located almost right on top of the plate boundary near the fault lines where the shock of the earthquake occurred, it took the full force of the magnitude 7.0 earthquake.
Adding to the disaster's massive scale, the huge amount of dust blasted into the upper atmosphere by the Tambora eruption contributed to a bizarre and highly destructive weather event the following year. And 1816 became known as The Year Without a Summer. The disaster on the remote island of Sumbawa in the Indian Ocean has been overshadowed by the eruption of the volcano at Krakatoa decades later, partly because the news of Krakatoa traveled quickly via telegraph. Accounts of the Tambora eruption were much more rare, however some vivid ones do exist. An administrator of the East India Company, Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles, who was serving as governor of Java at the time, published a vivid account of the disaster based on written reports he had collected from English traders and military personnel.
The point where the earthquake starts is called the focus. Energy waves disperse rapidly from this point. The point at ground level, directly above the focus, is called the epicentre. On Tuesday 12 January 2010 at 16:53, a huge earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.0 on the Richter scale, struck the Caribbean island of Haiti. Haiti is only half of an island, the other half being the Dominican Republic, Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, and has a history of destructive earthquakes.
Two news articles one by Boston Globe [ (Earthquake in Haiti, 2010) ] and the other by CNN [ (7.0 quake hits Haiti; 'Serious loss of life' expected, 2010) ] have been summarized describing the damage that the earthquake entailed on the poor nation. The third section describes a view point on how the major governments turned a blind eye on this disaster after confirming initial donations of up to $5.3. It is estimated that only about one-tenth of the donations pledged to help Haiti overcome this disaster actually arrived. One of articles published on wordpress.com website gives a clear picture of how the empty promises were never fulfilled [ (Haiti – What Happened to All the Money?, 2010) ]. The last section describes the progress Haiti has made after the earthquake and what has been the recovery plan.
In 2008-2009 the island was ravaged by hurricanes causing massive destruction to the natural resources and causing strain on the already untrusted government. In 2010 a massive earthquake hit the Haiti killing thousands. The elections that followed did not have a large turn out and the election went to Michel Martelly. According to Time World (2012) Dominican Senator Félix Bautista, who owns or controls construction companies that in the past year have received Haitian government contracts worth more than $200 million and paid Martelly a total of almost $2.6 million during Martelly's presidential campaign and after his landslide victory in Haiti's 2011
9, 000 of those being foreigners. The Tsunami’s energy was so great the wave traveled around the world three times. Seven years later in 2011 an earthquake 60km off the east coast of Tohoku with a magnitude of 9.0 on the Richter scale struck Japan. The earthquake triggered a huge Tsunami which reached heights of 133 ft. and killed around 15, 839 people, injured 5950 and left 3642 unaccounted for. Causes When a dense oceanic plate collides with a less dense continental plate the denser oceanic plate subducts under the less dense continental plate.
Haiti Earthquake of 2010 The 2010 earthquake in Haiti was one of the most devastating ever seen in the Western hemisphere, with overwhelming repercussions. The epicentre of the Earthquake in Haiti occurred 16 miles from the capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince on the 12th January 2010 at 16.53 local time and its focus was 8.1 miles below the surface of the earth. Due to this the tremors of the earthquake had less to travel to reach the earth’s surface, therefore resulting in strong shockwaves, measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale. Haiti is situated on the North of the Caribbean plate, at a conservative plate boundary with the westward moving North American plate. As these two plates attempt to pass one another friction causes them to get stuck and over a period of time, pressure builds up, this pressure is released as one plate suddenly jerks past the other, with the resultant force sending shockwaves to the earth’s surface.
Haiti Earthquake 2010 The earthquake in Haiti occurred on the 12th of January 2010 16:53 local time around 25km from Haiti’s capitol Port au Prince the earthquake measured 7.0 on the Richter scale making it one of the most devastating earthquakes this . Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere with around 80% of the population living in extreme poverty. Access to healthcare in Haiti is almost non-existent more than 60% of the population has access to basic healthcare because of this disease is rampant. Most building in Haiti are structurally unsound meaning when the earthquake hit these houses crumbled to rubble leaving many people trapped. In February 2010 Prime Minister Jean estimated that 250,000 residencies and 30,000commercial buildings were severely damaged and needed to be demolished.