Haiti Earthquake - Causes and Effects - Case Study Example

Haiti Earthquake Number: Due: Part I Haiti Earthquake Executive Summary The Haiti earthquakewas one of the worst tragedies experienced in Haiti for quite a long time. It happened in the year 2010. It measured 7.0 on the Ritcher scale. It affected areas such as the Ouest province, the nearby cities of Carrefour and Jacmel, as well as areas to the south and the West of Port-au-Prince. A lot of people were left dead by this tragedy, many more injured, and unknown numbers were buried under the buildings. The people affected included the civil servants and damage to the government buildings brought more problems with the number of national authorities that would coordinate the response teams. The damaged building was such a severe incident, the damages also included the infrastructure, such as electricity, roads, bridges, electrical and communication systems, and water systems. This left a lot of roads to and from the capital blocked. At the time of the incident, there were no communications as they were disrupted and thus no clear information regarding the incident would be obtained. There was the problem of transportation of relief food due to the damaged infrastructure. At the time of the tragedy, it would not be possible to estimate the correct number of people affected but clearly the earthquake zones of intensity were experienced in the areas where there was a high population estimated to be around 3 million people. The response plans was to provide amenities such as food, water, health care, shelter, livelihood, education, and other necessities of life, and to strengthen and restore state capacities (El- Masri & Tipple 1997). Because of the affected people were many, thus it implied these people would move to other areas in search of food, shelter and other medical services that would farther add demographic pressure on the inhabitants of other rural areas and the rest of the urban centers. The earthquake created a worse situation in the country, since it affected one of the highest populated area that was still an administrative and economic center. The situation is still difficult to take from the government since the country was experiencing a stable scion-political and economic growth that had brought about an increase of the peoples standards of living. Part II Haiti Earthquake Timeline Major Events Timeline (2006 to Present) Intervention Phase (2006) Storm Phase (2008-2010) Protest Phase (2010-2012) Timeline: Haiti Earthquake Several theories and models have been explained to clearly show the occurrence of the Haiti earthquake. Even though scientists believe that the effect of the tectonic plates and finite faults played a part in its occurrence “there is more than meets the eye”. Other critics suggest that the political problems that the country experienced might have been the cause and specifically cited on the vulnerability model as a cause of the Haiti earthquake (Diamond 2005). Part III Introduction The Haiti earthquake whose extent is yet to be determined caused a lot of damage to the people, that included killings, injuries, trauma, social, economic and environmental effects. This earthquake shows that there is a lot to be discovered on its cause and analysts should not just look at the disaster itself. This tragedy also affected the country as it had to take another backward step in the economic recovery and growth of Haiti that was the countrys source of dependency in economic and administrative growth. This tragedy added farther problems to the Haiti problems that looked to be stable. However, this would be seen as a “blessing in disguise” by some critics who might argue that this would give the country an opportunity to come up with strong policies to improve risk management, more so on earthquakes problems and vulnerability (Dubois 2004). The land of Haiti has been hit by earthquakes before, and it is high time the government became prepared when such incidences occur. Similar earthquakes were also experienced in Hispaniola Island. Some of the advances in risk management have been made by the National Risk and Disaster Management Plan as well as the National Emergency Response Plan. Early Warning Signs and Events Leading To the Haiti Earthquake From the technical point of view, Haiti people had the knowledge to build on the early warning signs and disaster mitigation plans (Crawford 2010). This would have enabled them to prepare for the incident since they were aware it might occur again. Scientists in Haiti knew from the past that there was stress that was piling up from the sea at a very fast rate and might cause a 7.0 earthquake anytime. If earthquakes, anytime implies the time from 10-100 years since the timing is not precise (Griffin 1978). In the year 1998, there was the confirmation of a strong earthquake to come by other scientists at the Caribbean Geological Conference. These scientists had informed the Haitian authorities of a possible danger to come soon through the sue of GPS that would monitor tectonic plate movements (George 2011). An early warning involves the provision of timely and reliable information that would allow authorities that are prone to danger so that they can take, appropriate action to avoid or reduce the danger and be prepared to respond to the event when it happens. An early warning system therefore consists of: Risk knowledge, warning service, dissemination, and response capability. Response knowledge includes the understanding and knowing the danger of the event, warning service includes the monitoring and forecasting of the event, dissemination include the processing of the signs of the events to the responsible authorities and to the public. While the response capability enables the authorities to take the necessary actions at the required time in response to the warnings (Holmes 2010). However, scientists argue that the knowledge about the risk is only virtual. In Haiti, for instance, the political, economic, and social conditions were a challenge and therefore it was difficult to establish the early warning. More so the factors prevented the early preparations for the earthquake based on the risk assessments that are vital in the reduction of risks. Early preparations would include urban planning that would regulate the number of buildings being constructed, the spacing of other infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, and pipelines (Hewitt 1983). Recovery Methods After the Haiti tragedy there have been various events that have happened with an aim to rebuild the country. Donors pledged after the incident to donate US$9 billion as a support to the governments plan to recover from the tragedy. The plan by the government called Action Plan for National Recovery and Development was aimed at targeting reconstruction as the way to rebuild the economy. There is now improvement in the infrastructure that was damaged, decentralizing of the economic activity, reducing vulnerability to such tragedies, developing agriculture, the manufacturing industries and the tourism sector (Crawford 2010). By the year 2011, all the pledges by the donors had reached US$1 billion in debt relief; US$2.4 billion spent out of the US$4.5 billion approved money for the projects. Although the reconstruction would take sometime there are however improved signs of a great progress in Haiti. Some of the camps and temporary shelter at the time of the tragedy are now being substituted for the neighborhood repair, quite several Haiti roads are now passable unlike before, and schools are now in use (Jessop 2006). Moreover, in the past there were chaotic elections in the country but ever since the tragedy the first elections were held in a peaceful way. This was a sign of hope for a new Haiti that would allow the reconstruction process to be conducted in a fast manner. Since Haiti is one of the poorest countries in America, there is now recovering of the economy and since after the strategy of the improvement in the agriculture sector there is, hope in the growth of the gross domestic product of the country (King 2010). There is increasing of the capital expenditures that on the other hand would provide a good environment for the people who want to invest that would also make use of the reconstructed resources to improve the economy and reduce the countrys poverty. Models and the Haiti Earthquake Different theories regarding disaster management try to explain the causes of the Haiti tragedy. While some critics would still argue that the causes of the earthquake were never in the control of human beings and base their arguments on the tectonic plate model as the cause of the earthquake. However, reduction-risk has been viewed as the cause of the earthquake as the scientists believe that the authorities of Haiti were long informed of the possible occurrence of the tragedy. This approach to risk management reflects on the causes, effects and the characteristics of the Haiti earthquake. This approach would view the physical hazard which is the main causes of disasters (Cavallo & Becerra 2010). Other approaches such as the social vulnerability approach would identify the individuals and communities responsible for making plans, creating a diverse economy and work together as something that was lacking that might have resulted to the Haiti tragedy. Nevertheless trying to see a causal factor through analysis would be important however. The analysis of the Haiti causative factors would relate the history of the disaster, the social, and economic processes (Kanbur, & Venables 2010). Some scientists argue that it would be a problem for a country to rely on the disaster management plan so that it can prepare and respond to some of the disasters that it might face in the future. However, understanding that the Haiti country was not in any way prepared to tackle vulnerability would be a possible solution to show that they were never prepared too to handle any disaster(Diamond 2005). Therefore it is focusing on the vulnerability of Haiti to disaster rather than looking on causes the disaster itself. The country never looked at how it would handle its citizens on the outcome of disasters. This model rejects some of the already proposed models that place the physical causes as some of the dominant factors that caused the earthquake. This model explains more about why the earthquake happened in Haiti than looking at the earthquake alone (Kagan 1997). The understanding of the disasters of the Haiti authorities, did not focus on the earthquake disaster, how unsafe the citizens were and thus the vulnerability of the country. According to some writers, societies “choose to fail or survive” (King 2010). This shows that Haitis leaders, authorities, the citizens attitudes towards disasters and various institutions that have failed as compared to other countries. The poor history of the country, that date back to the colonial times, the military occupation, and the crisis elections that have for long been the dominant features of Haitis political system have contributed to the vulnerability of the nation. Haiti earthquake tragedy is a clear indication that a communitys safety and fate lies entirely in the hands of its own people and the choices they decide. The vulnerability model thus can be defined when a society is unable to “withstand” adverse impacts from several disasters to which they are exposed(El- Masri & Tipple 1997). This model explains the characteristics that the societies that influence their choice to expect and cope, plan well, resist and recover from natural disasters. Disasters can always be averted with better planning, being prepared to handle them when they come, the togetherness of the society, having better foundations, involving all citizens in decision making. Other causes such as the tectonic plates and the finite faults are imminent in the cause of earthquakes however. Government Official Quotes With regard to the government’s response towards the tragedy, it indicates that they are guilty since they would have done something to control the situation. Different reports were given by the government on the number of people who had died that remains something questionable. A government official was quoted saying: “Intellectually, I really dont care how many people got killed in the earthquake" (Klein 2010). This should not be something that a leader would say a show that the government is irresponsible. Conclusion Earthquakes often result from tectonic plates. Countries that are situated in the fault lines are prone to earthquakes just like Haiti. Haiti is situated on two fault lines-the North American and the Caribbean thus earthquakes are common in this country although some human actions such as the models discussed above can also be the reason for disasters. Preparedness is essential in order to manage disasters. A country’s infrastructure moreover, should be made in a way that it can withstand natural disasters such as the earthquakes (Lawson 2010). References Cavallo, E. & Becerra, O. (2010), ‘Estimating the Direct Economic Damage of the Earthquake in Haiti’ IDB Working Paper Series, pp. 163 Crawford, L. (2010), Coordination and the tenure puzzle in Haiti’, Humanitarian Exchange. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp.48. Diamond, J. (2005), Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive. London: Penguin. Dubois, L. (2004), Avengers of the New World: the story of the Haitian Revolution. London: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. El- Masri, S. & Tipple, G. (1997), “Urbanisation, Poverty and Natural Disasters: Vulnerability of settlements in developing countries: Reconstruction after disaster” . Issues and practices. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Limited. Griffin, K. (1978), International inequality and national poverty. London: Macmillan. George, V. (2011), “The Haiti Earthquake: a disaster set apart from others? Aon Benfield UCL Hazard Research Centre, Disaster Studies ,pp. 27 Hewitt, K. (1983), The idea of calamity in a technocratic age’ in Hewitt, K. (ed.) Interpretations of calamity. Boston: Allen & Unwin. Holmes, J. (2010), Learning the Lessons of Haiti.’ Humanitarian Exchange, No.48. Jessop, B. (2006), Tectonic forces and finite plates. The causes of Haitie Earthquake. A critical reader. Oxford: Blackwell. Kanbur, R., & Venables, J. (2010), “Spatial Inequality and Development in Haiti” Spatial Inequality and Development. Oxford Scholarship online. Kagan, Y. (1997), Are earthquakes predictable? Geophysical Journal International, Oxford Scholarship online. 131, 3, pp. 505-525. King, D. (2010), The Haiti earthquake: breaking new ground in the humanitarian Information Landscape. Humanitarian Exchange, No.48. Klein, N. (2010), “Haiti, a creditor, not a debtor: It Needs Reconstruction” Online Journal, pp. 67 Lawson, V. (2010), ‘Reshaping Economic Geography? Producing Spaces of Inclusive Development.’ Economic Geography, 86, 4, pp.351-360. Read More