2010 Haiti Earthquake

    The 2010 Earthquakes in Haiti, specifically Port-au-Prince and surrounding towns were characterizable fatal and destructive. The reason the earthquakes in and around Port-au-Prince are so frequent and dangerous is because of the tectonic movements. While the Caribbean Plate lies just above Haiti and the Dominican Republic and results in a transform boundary, causing earthquakes. However, the Gonâve Microplate is the cause of the Port-au-Prince earthquakes as there is a fault line running through the mountain range of Massif de la Selle, which is just south of Port-au-Prince. This fault line is known as the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault zone as it runs from Lake Enriquillo in the Dominican Republic to Plantain Garden River in Jamaica. This fault line is the cause of many earthquakes in the Port-au-Prince region, as well as the 2010 Earthquakes which caused the deaths of over 150,000 people according to a study performed by the University of Michigan in 2010. 

    

The epicenter of the earthquake was recorded near the town of Léogâne, which lies west of Port-au-Prince, when the earthquake struck, it was reported as a 7.0 magnitude. The results of the initial earthquake were devastating as infrastructure across the nation of Haiti was destroyed along with seats of government, most notably, the Palais National, which used to be residence of the President of Haiti until the center dome collapsed into the building along with the second floor. The destruction of this building serves as general symbol of the destruction and damage done to the nation in the earthquake.

    This earthquake did not only destroy government buildings and demolish homes around the city of Port-au-Prince but created a system marred by political and economic instability as the country's disaster infrastructure could not have dealt with the magnitude of this disaster. As the UN had to send in Peacekeepers in order to safely distribute supplies and various forms of aid to the citizens and government of Haiti, a small cholera outbreak took place. There were various delays in aid distribution which led to rampant violence and looting, certifying the roles of nationwide gangs in this new system of governance in Port-au-Prince. 

    While the earthquakes of 2010 in Haiti were significantly more destructive than any seen in recent history, disaster similar in scope but smaller in scale continue to occur in Haiti quite frequently. In 2021 on August 14th a deadly earthquake resulting in the death of over 2,000 people was quickly followed by the landfall of Tropical Depression Grace on August 16th, delaying aid distribution to a damaged Port-au-Prince, as well as causing flooding and terrible living conditions for those forced out of their homes by the previous earthquake. 

    The long-term effects of the earthquake range from political and economic instability in Port-au-Prince to the creation of large shantytowns throughout the country as there has been no effort to establish any building codes to ensure the safety of those that may live on a mountainside or in a multifamily living complex that could collapse at the slightest tremor.

Parker Boudloche