earthquake

Students’ Name
Professors’ Name
Haiti Earthquake
Date
The discussion below explores to review the Haiti earthquake that took place almost a decade ago. The large-scale earthquake hit the Dominican Republic and Haiti, however, the latter was the worst affected. The earthquake occurred on 12th January 2010 on the island of Hispaniola located between Cuba and Puerto Rico. The fact that Haiti lies near the North American and Caribbean tectonic boundary plates which are characterized by compressions, 20 millimeters slippage per year and left-lateral strike slip could have resulted in the occurrence of the earthquake. More so, these plates slide separately on the molten core of the planet as they are a rigid part of the crust and by the time of the earthquake, they were moving past each other creating huge pressure (Eberhard 3). The earthquake caused huge damages to life and property. Over 200 000 persons lost their lives and more than 300 000 others got injured.
More so, over one and a half million people got displaced from their homes. The total human damage estimates at over ten million people who in one way or the other got affected. Infrastructures also got damaged ranging from homes, hospitals, schools, airports, and roads to mention a few. For example, it damaged over 250 000 homes of which more than 100 000 got destroyed completely (Eberhard 15). The effects of the earthquake also had a direct influence on Haiti’s economy as its GDP fell by close to 5.1 percent. The earthquake was shallow at 10 Km because it occurred on a transform boundary.

The initial measure of the earthquake shock recorded a 7.0 Mw, soon after, two other aftershocks followed. One measured a magnitude of 5.9 and the second at 5.5.
Further aftershocks took place days after the first one measuring to a magnitude of as high as 5.9 ((Eberhard 4). Since the 18th century, Haiti had not experienced such an enormous earthquake. The earthquake crippled Haiti’s economy at a time when it was beginning to gain ground. The economic damage estimates at $7.5 billion to $8.5 billion (Eberhard 37).

Works cited
Eberhard, Marc O., et al. Mw 7.0 Haiti Earthquake of January 12, 2010: USGS/EERI Advance Reconnaissance Team Report. BiblioGov, 2013.