Comparison between Chile- Haiti Earthquakes - Research Paper Example

Download file to see previous pages... An earthquake is a natural occurrence that takes place when an oceanic plate collides with the land plates thus causing an impulse. The resulting impulse between the two plates is always of a higher magnitude. It is this nature of earthquake’s higher magnitude that always causes the distractions of even stronger things including buildings, vehicles, heavy machinery among others. Earthquakes have mostly been experienced in most of Latin American countries compared to other continents. Some of these countries include Haiti and Chile. These two countries experienced what has been said to be two of the greatest earthquakes among other earthquakes in other countries. These earthquakes occurred respectively in these countries within a span of a year, causing death and destruction of properties which in turn resulted to affect the countries economically. Even though the both earthquakes caused almost similar destruction, the weight of their impacts differed in the respective countries.
Consequences of the earthquakes
As it is expected that earthquakes causes a lot of destruction which in turn tends to cause negative impacts on the victims, so was the case in both Haiti and Chile as they never escaped to face its consequences. Most of the destruction and consequences experienced by both the countries were similar and the main. Even though most of the consequences and destruction experienced by these countries as a result of the earthquakes were similar, the magnitude of their effects of the government and the economy was slightly different. This difference came as e result of their economic stability. The earthquakes had a greater blow to the Haitians compared to the Chileans because Chile’s economy was better compared to Haiti, a country which is among the poorest in the world (Farmer & Joia 87). The 2010 Haiti earthquake caused a lot of destruction which subsequently affected its economy (Castanos, Heriberta & Cinna p44). Some of these distractions were: demolition of buildings including presidential palace and The United Nation Peace keeps Mission. Demolition of buildings, led to one of the major consequences since it resulted in loss of homes. It is evident that close to 105,000 homes were destroyed. Destruction of homes could also mean that individuals whose homes were destroyed with them inside perished as a result. Secondly, demolition of buildings also implies that several industries were also destroyed it is believed that most of them collapsed as a result. This also implied that individuals who were employed in these companies were forced to lose their jobs. The increased number of joblessness and closure of companies eventually affected the economy since these individuals and companies were not able to pay the revenues (Farmer & Joia 87). Another department that was also affected by the earthquake is the transportation department. Transportation became a major problem causing a lot of things to stand still. The earthquake destroyed the cranes at the nearby ports hence making it difficult for the ports to operate. This was so due to the fact that the offloading of goods became a problem even to the ships that were transporting the aid. These ships were forced to inhibit temporarily (Castanos, Heriberta & Cinna 52). These destructions at the port did not only affect the transportation of the aiding goods, they also interrupted the importation and exportation of goods in and out of the country thus affecting the economy. On the other hand, air transport was also not left behind in experiencing this problem. The air transport department especially the Airport International Toussaint L’Ouverture Airport. This airport was also damaged by the earthquake, thereby causing inconvenience since most of the planes were forced to use the nearby airport. The destruction of the airport also impacted the reduction of air travels which further thus reducing incomes and initiating loss of ...Download file to see next pagesRead More