The massive earthquake in Haiti in 2010 was the biggest disaster in the 21st century. Pictures from the scene are horrific even today - most of the capital 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 representatives of the UN mission in Port-au-Prince lived. Despite the relatively small localization, in terms of devastating consequences and the number of victims, the earthquake can be considered one of the most global disasters of the last century.
Fateful day for the capital of Haiti - Port-au-Prince
The Haiti earthquake occurred on January 12, 2010. The epicenter of the disaster was located just fifteen kilometers from the capital of the island - Port-au-Prince, and the central point of the earthquake was at a depth of thirteen kilometers. As a result of activity at the junction of the Caribbean and North American lithospheric plates, a main shock with a magnitude of 7 on the Richter scale and many repeated ones, 15 of which were more than 5 magnitudes, were recorded.
Almost a third of the population of the state lived in the city, so a large-scale disaster was a serious blow toHaiti.
The tragic situation did not end with the actual earthquake and the elimination of the consequences of a natural disaster. Social catastrophes, lack of funding and other misfortunes have become chronic for the island, and it took more than two years for the capital to return to more or less normal life.
First data on the disaster in Haiti
The earthquake in Haiti became the main topic of most international media for a long time after the event. 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 a natural disaster. The Prime Minister of Haiti announced a big figure - about 100 thousand dead or more.
Start of rescue operations
On January 12, an earthquake occurred in Haiti, rescue work 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 took the wounded and the dead. A correspondent for the BBC, who was at the scene, said that the corpses were piled right in the corridors of the hospital or on the sidewalks, and the seriously wounded waited for hours for the help of doctors.
First aid began arriving in Haiti on January 13th. About 37 countries, including Russia, sent rescue teams, medicines, food and other essentials to the island. Later they were joined byseveral states. The wounded began to be taken out by helicopters to Santo Domingo, the capital of the neighboring Dominican Republic. The start of rescue work was hampered by the fact that the infrastructure of the island was destroyed as a result of the earthquake: the port was badly damaged, the unloading of ships was difficult, there was not enough fuel for refueling, the airport could not cope with the influx of planes and helicopters, the roads were filled with piles of debris, refugees, dead and wounded.
On January 15, bulldozers began removing corpses from the streets. The earthquake in Haiti (photo in the first days after the incident above) provoked a humanitarian catastrophe. Three million homeless people lacked food and clean water, and many died of hunger, thirst and poor sanitation. Food warehouses, shops and government buildings were looted, anarchy reigned in the city, and there were cases of looting.
Information about the dead and injured
On January 16, it became known that about 140 thousand people died from the disaster, most of the population of the capital was left without housing and food. On the same day, the President of Haiti said 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 the buildings in the capital were destroyed, including government buildings, hospitals, and the central prison. Haiti after the earthquake was gripped by panic and anarchy, armed groups of marauders appeared. Rescue work and delivery of humanitarian aid continueexacerbated by destruction, communication problems, lack of coordination between different groups and problems with the supply of fuel.
International Aid and Relief Delivery
First, groups of military, rescuers and doctors were sent to Haiti directly to rescue people from the rubble and provide medical assistance. Assistance was provided not only by the governments of many states, but also by certain famous personalities, large companies and organizations.
International cooperation, which was not coordinated in the early days, did much to save most of the survivors from starvation, looting and unsanitary conditions. But the problems with the delivery of humanitarian aid were enormous, even if we do not take into account the destroyed infrastructure. A humanitarian catastrophe has unfolded in Haiti, with huge queues lining up for food, medicine, fuel and other essentials, and looting is rampant.
Food disruption riots
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 shocks, the cries of the wounded were heard from under the rubble for several days, and the dead were simply piled on the roadsides. The rescue work 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 inmass 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 military forces took control of the central area of the capital, where the earthquake occurred. In Haiti, the catastrophe needed to be addressed, otherwise more people could have died. Theft and armed attacks have reached unprecedented levels.
U. S. accusations of invading Haiti
During the rescue operations, the US paratroopers, as already mentioned, took control of the Presidential Palace area (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 explain to the United States the powers of its military in the disaster zone. The representative of the US forces responded by saying that this was not an occupation, but a rescue operation. The situation was resolved successfully, because Haiti still needed active international assistance to resolve the situation, and its own doctors, rescuers and military were not enough.
Repeated earthquake
Nine days after the devastating disaster, on January 21, 2010, another Haiti earthquake occurred (the year was generally catastrophic for the state). As expected, panic arose in the city, but the shocks of magnitude 6 did not provoke new destruction and victims.
Rescue operation continued as usual after repeated earthquake.
Why does Haiti often have earthquakes? This question came from the pages of influential international media, which brought in experts to determine where the disaster would happen next. However, the answer is extremely simple - the island is located at the junction of two lithospheric plates. The state is located in an active seismic zone, and earthquakes of small magnitude occur there all the time.
Return to normal life
The food situation stabilized a little only by January 20th. In a few stores, products at twice the price and clean water began to appear. Some debris was not cleared even two years after the disaster.
In the photo above, for example, a shoe salesman stands in front of the rubble on January 9, 2012.
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 was resumed (representatives of the United Nations have been present on the island since the 2004 unrest). The ordinary population has returned to more or less acceptable living conditions, but the capital of Haiti will no longer be the same as it was before the earthquake - too many victims were provoked by the catastrophe.
The photo below shows posters with the faces of those killed in the suburbs of Port-au-Prince.
Photo taken in 2012.
Final earthquake damage assessment
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 mission of the organization in Haiti, a famous Brazilian pediatrician, an organizer of charity programs for children, the archbishop of the capital, the Minister of Justice of Haiti and the leader of the opposition.
The situation in Haiti in 2010: earthquake, hurricane, riots and cholera epidemic
Haiti after the earthquake overtook several more disasters. In October 2010, a cholera epidemic began, which was complicated by a lack of medicines and the consequences of the disaster on January 12, which were not completely eliminated. Four and a half thousand people died from cholera, the number of infected is estimated at tens of thousands.
The epidemic was exacerbated by Hurricane Thomas, which claimed the lives of 20 citizens and provoked severe floods, riots during presidential elections and the persecution of "witches" and "sorcerers" who are responsible for all the disasters in Haiti, according to the population.
The humanitarian situation is still largely unstabilized.
How is the situation in Haiti now, almost 7 years afterearthquakes
Haiti's humanitarian situation is still very far from being fully stabilized. Recently, the state was hit by Hurricane Matthew and a number of new epidemics. On top of that - political instability, low living standards, regular strikes and rallies, riots and clashes with representatives of the UN mission. The situation in Haiti remains dire.
