A major earthquake in Haiti in 2010 was the largest disaster of the 21st century. The pictures from the scene are horrifying even today - most of the capital of Port-au-Prince lay in ruins. Not only houses were destroyed, but almost all hospitals, buildings of several Ministries, the Cathedral, the National Palace and the Christophe Hotel, where the representatives of the UN mission in Port-au-Prince lived. Despite the relatively small localization, the destructive consequences and the number of victims of the earthquake can be considered one of the most global catastrophes of the last century.
Fatal day for the capital of Haiti - Port-au-Prince
The Haiti earthquake occurred on January 12, 2010. The epicenter of the disaster was located only fifteen kilometers from the island's capital, Port-au-Prince, and the central point of the earthquake source was at a depth of thirteen kilometers. As a result of activity at the junction of the Caribbean and North American lithospheric plates, the main impulse of magnitude 7 was recorded on the Richter scale and many repeated ones, the power of 15 of which amounted to more than 5 points.
Almost a third of the state’s population lived in the city, so a large-scale disaster was a serious blow to Haiti.
The tragic situation did not end with the earthquake itself and the elimination of the consequences of a natural disaster. Social disasters, lack of funding and other misfortunes became chronic for the island, and to return to a more or less normal life, the capital took more than two years.
The first data on the disaster in Haiti
The earthquake in Haiti has long been the main topic of most international media for a week after the incident. The president of the affected state made his first statement regarding the disaster the day after the earthquake. Rene Preval said that, according to preliminary data, about 30 thousand people became victims of the natural disaster. The Prime Minister of Haiti announced a large number - about 100 thousand dead or more.
Start of rescue work
An earthquake in Haiti occurred on January 12, rescue operations began immediately and the first few hours were carried out exclusively by the internal forces of the state. Only one hospital has survived, where the military, doctors and surviving citizens brought the wounded and dead. The BBC correspondent, who was at the scene, said that the corpses were piled directly in the corridors of the hospital or on the sidewalks, and the seriously wounded were waiting for hours for medical help.
First aid began arriving in Haiti on January 13th. About 37 countries, including Russia, sent rescue teams, medicines, food and other necessities to the island. Later, several more states joined them. The wounded were taken out by helicopter to Santo Domingo, the capital of the neighboring Dominican Republic. The start of rescue operations was hindered by the fact that the island’s infrastructure was destroyed by an earthquake: the port was badly damaged, ship unloading was difficult, there wasn’t enough fuel for refueling, the airport could not cope with the influx of aircraft and helicopters, roads were full of debris, refugees, dead and wounded .
January 15, the bodies began to be removed from the streets with bulldozers. The earthquake in Haiti (photo in the first days after the incident above) provoked a humanitarian catastrophe. The three million people left homeless lacked food and clean water, many died of hunger, thirst and unsanitary conditions. Food depots, shops and government buildings were looted, anarchy reigned in the city, cases of looting were recorded.
Information about the dead and injured
On January 16, it became known that about 140 thousand people died from the disaster, most of the capital’s population was left without housing and food. On the same day, the President of Haiti stated that 40-50 thousand people had already been buried in mass graves, and the total number of victims could reach 200 thousand. According to various estimates, up to 50% of buildings are destroyed in the capital, including government buildings, hospitals, and a central prison. Haiti after the earthquake panic and anarchy, armed groups of looters appeared. Rescue operations and the delivery of humanitarian aid continued to be complicated by destruction, communication problems, uncoordinated actions between different groups and problems with fuel supplies.
International aid and humanitarian aid delivery
First, groups of military, rescuers, and doctors were sent to Haiti directly to save people from the rubble and provide medical care. Assistance was provided not only by the governments of many states, but also by certain well-known personalities, large companies and organizations.
International cooperation, which in the early days was not coordinated, helped to save a large part of the survivors from hunger, looting and unsanitary conditions. But the problems with the delivery of humanitarian aid were enormous, even if we did not take into account the destroyed infrastructure. In Haiti, a humanitarian catastrophe erupted: huge lines lined up for food, medicine, fuel and other essential commodities, and looting flourished.
Riots caused by interruptions in food supply
The earthquake in Haiti caused riots and real anarchy, which persisted in the capital for several weeks. People spent the night on the streets, beingware of repeated tremors, from under the rubble for several days there were cries of the wounded, and the dead were simply piled on the side of the road. Conducting rescue operations was complicated by panic. In addition, belief in magic and witchcraft is widespread among the population of the island: a local voodoo priest, a few days after the disaster, said that the corpses buried in mass graves will soon begin to come to life. Of course, the psychological state of the population has deteriorated significantly from such a statement by a respected person.
On January 19, US forces took control of the central area of ​​the capital, where an earthquake struck. In Haiti, the catastrophe demanded a settlement, otherwise even more people could die. Theft and armed attacks have reached unprecedented limits.
Accusations of U.S. invasion of Haiti
During the rescue operations, the US paratroopers, as already mentioned, took control of the area of ​​the Presidential Palace (the president himself and the administration worked in a police station near the airport). France then accused the United States of occupying Haiti and demanded that the UN clarify to the United States the powers of its military in the disaster zone. The representative of the US forces in response said that this was not about occupation, but about conducting a rescue operation. The situation was resolved safely, since Haiti still needed active international assistance to resolve the situation, and its own doctors, rescuers and military were not enough.
Earthquake
Nine days after the devastating disaster, on January 21, 2010, a second earthquake occurred in Haiti (the year generally became disastrous for the state). As expected, panic rose in the city, but the shock and magnitude shock of 6 points did not provoke new destructions and victims.
The rescue operation after the repeated earthquake continued as usual.
Why are earthquakes often happening in Haiti? This question sounded from the pages of influential international media, which attracted experts to determine where the disaster will happen next time. However, the answer is extremely simple - the island is located at the junction of two lithospheric plates. The state is in the active seismic zone, and earthquakes of small magnitude occur there constantly.
Return to normal
The food situation stabilized a little only by January 20. In a few stores, products began to appear at twice as high prices and clean water. Some blockages were not dismantled even two years after the disaster.
In the photo above, for example, a shoe seller who stands against the backdrop of the rubble of a building on January 9, 2012.
At the same time, the state is trying to continue to live as usual. Over time, the work of the president and the central government was restored, and the UN mission in Haiti resumed (United Nations representatives have been present on the island since the riots of 2004). The ordinary population has returned to more or less acceptable living conditions, but the capital of Haiti will not be the same as it was before the earthquake - too many victims were provoked by the disaster.
The photo below shows posters of people who died in a suburb of Port-au-Prince.
Photo taken in 2012.
Final assessment of earthquake damage
On March 18, 2010, official data were published, according to which, the number of victims of the disaster in Haiti amounted to 222 thousand 570 people. 311 thousand citizens received injuries of varying severity, and 869 people are missing. Material damage was estimated at 5.6 billion euros.
During the disaster, UN representatives were killed, including the head of the organization’s mission in Haiti, a well-known Brazilian pediatrician, the organizer of charity programs for children, the archbishop of the capital, the Haitian Minister of Justice and the opposition leader.
The situation in Haiti in 2010: earthquake, hurricane, riots and cholera epidemic
Haiti after the earthquake overtook several more disasters. In October 2010, the cholera epidemic began, which was complicated by the lack of drugs and the incompletely eliminated consequences of the January 12 disaster. Four and a half thousand people died from cholera; the number of infected people amounts to tens of thousands.
The epidemic was aggravated by Hurricane Thomas, which took the lives of 20 citizens and provoked severe flooding, riots during the presidential election and the persecution of “witches” and “sorcerers” who are responsible for all the disasters in Haiti, according to the population.
The humanitarian situation is largely unstable so far.
What is the situation in Haiti now, almost 7 years after the earthquake
Haiti is still very far from a complete stabilization of the humanitarian situation. The state recently suffered from Hurricane Matthew and a number of new epidemics. On top of that, there is political instability, a low standard of living, regular strikes and rallies, riots and clashes with representatives of the UN mission. The situation with Haiti remains deplorable.