Comparative Case Studies: Haiti and Chile

Comparative Case Studies: Haiti and Chile

Haiti

• Date – 12^th January 2010
• Magnitude – 7.0 or IX on the Modified Mercalli Scale
• Depth – 13 km (8.1 miles)
• Deaths – 92,000 t0 316,000
• 1.5 – 1.8 million homeless

Economists from Latin America estimated that the Earthquake would cost between $8.1 and $13.9 billion, almost double Haiti’s GDP of $7 billion (world bank figures for 2008).

Why was this quake so destructive?

• ·      Depth of the earthquake; this quake was very shallow meaning it caused more damage.
• ·      Haiti is an LDC and ranked 130^th in GDP (nominal). This means it doesn’t have the resources or money to develop earthquake proof buildings or educate the public.
• ·      Haiti hadn’t experienced an earthquake in 168 years and Port-au-Prince (Haiti’s capital) hadn’t for 210 years. This lulled the Haitian people into a false sense of security.
• ·      Since the earthquake at least 52 aftershocks measuring magnitude 4.2 or more have been recorded. The largest (5.9) is said to have caused the collapsing of already weakened buildings.
• ·      Essential services were destroyed; 3 hospitals collapsed, the harbour was too damaged to be used, the control tower at the airport was seriously damaged and the main road to Jacmel (a large city in the south-east) was blocked. This prevented emergency services from helping the injured and prevented external help from reaching the country.

Government Response

• ·      Initial confusion over who was in charge (the government or the UN) left no single group organising relief efforts until the 16^th January.
• ·      Government handed over control of the airport to the USA to improve flight efficiency for aid reaching the country.
• ·      Due to the slow distribution of resources throughout Haiti looting began to take place
• ·      Aid from around the world began pouring in. ICE-SAR, Iceland’s search and rescue team were the first to reach Haiti within 24 hours of the Earthquake. Teams from China, Korea, Israel and Qatar were also mobilised.
• ·      The USA and Canada allowed the temporary relocation of Haitians to their respected countries whilst relief efforts were underway

S – Rotting bodies were found in the streets as the Haiti government struggled to cope with the vast numbers of dead found in the streets

P – Shows globalisation between governments and how the world can pull together in times of crisis. For example the Americans were happily working alongside the Chinese and Russians something that would never have happened in the past

E – The cost of the earthquake could reach almost double that of Haiti’s GDP in 2008

E – Dead bodies were piled into cemeteries as people tried to respect the Voodoo religious burial rights however they couldn’t cope so bodies were left rotting causing disease and depression.

D – 92,000 people dead is a huge knock on the workforce of Haiti, 316,000 would be even more disastrous. At a time where the government will need all the money it can to rebuild the diminished workforce will be producing less, thus elongating the time of recovery.

Chile

• Date: 27^th February 2010 (03:34 local time)
• Magnitude: 8.8 Richter scale (6^th largest earthquake ever recorded). The strongest shaking reached MM IX in Concepcion, MM VII and VIII were felt in the capital Santiago
• Depth: Between 30.1 km (19 miles) and 35 km (22 miles)
• Deaths: 562 identified fatalities
• Costs: $15-30 billion worth of damage to Chile’s economy. Also caused economic impacts within other nations due to the tsunami that was caused

Geology of the Area – The Earthquake

The earthquake was a result of the Nazca plate being subducted underneath the South American plate in an Oceanic – Continental convergent boundary. Experts and seismological centres have predicted that aftershocks will continue to plague the area for up 5 years; for example on the 11^th February 2011 a magnitude 6.8 aftershock struck. Chile has been capable of producing massive earthquakes since the Palaeozoic era (500 million years ago) and the largest earthquake ever recorded occurred in 1960 in Chile, magnitude 9.5.

This earthquake was 501 times more forceful than the Haiti earthquake but caused less destruction. Why was that?

• ·      The earthquake in Chile was at a much greater depth than that of Haiti. The Haiti earthquake was at a depth of 13km, thus almost half the depth than that of the Chile earthquake. The large depth of Chile helped to protect it from Love waves, most of which had dissipated by the time the waves had reached ground level; in comparison the shallow depth of Haiti allowed for the increased destruction due to love waves.
• ·      The geological history of the areas also greatly affected the earthquake; Chile is above very old rock, which is very hard thus the impact of the earthquake was reduced. In contrast Haiti sits upon very young rock, which is unconsolidated; this enhances the destruction as it means that the ground experiences more shaking and more buildings collapse.
• ·      Collapsing buildings are the main cause for deaths during an earthquake. Chile has stricter buildings codes than Haiti meaning that the buildings survived the earthquake better, reducing the number of fatalities.
• ·      The situation was lucky in some respects as the predicted wave height of the tsunami never materialized. This vastly reduced the number of fatalities that could have been expected from an earthquake of this magnitude.
• ·      The fact that Chile is one of the most earthquake prone countries in the world has resulted in a very educated/prepared population and emergency services. This reduced the number of fatalities of the earthquake.

Government Response

• ·      The government announced that it wouldn’t ask for help until it had fully assessed the situation however many nations were quick to respond e.g. the EU, the USA, China
• ·       To combat looting the military was ordered to assist the police and the government announced that criminal penalties would be more severe during the catastrophe. Looting quickly ends without much conflict, unlike New Orleans.
• ·      Countries began to send medical aid, shelters, food supplies, clothing, fuel, generators etc. Seismologists and seismology centers are also sent and set up
• ·      Vaccinations against tetanus and hepatitis are deployed.
• ·      Rubble from buildings is either re-used or sold to help with the relief effort
• ·      A fund was begun named Chile helps Chile with the aim of raising $29 million to build 30,000 emergency homes began on 5^th March, by 23:00 on the 6^th $58 million had been raised.
• ·      The Chilean government announces that over 35 countries responded to specific requests

The way both governments responded shows the level of preparation of Chile and how it helped to mitigate impacts. The response from the Haitian government was very ‘washy’; no singular group took charge of the relief operation for a long time, which resulted in higher numbers of casualties. Chile communicated well with other countries meaning that they got the aid they needed and where they needed it.

S – Some areas that the police/military couldn’t reach were left to fend for themselves against the looters. Some of the community armed themselves to protect their homes and/or livelihoods.

P – Shows how a government can deal with a natural disaster effectively by gathering the right type of support from around the world.

E – The Chile helps Chile fund is an excellent example of how a country can support itself during a national crisis so that it doesn’t have to rely on outside aid which may be tied or have to be repaid.

E – Research centers calculated that Santiago was moved 28cm to the southwest and Concepcion was moved at least 3m to the west.

D – The destruction caused many to be left without jobs, this could have potentially led to the negative/de- multiplier effect in some areas. 

Well I hope that was helpful, it took me long enough to write.