Introduction
An earthquake is occasioned by the tremor of tectonic plates on the surface of the earth. Materials on earth’s crust are dislocated by pushing forces from either side (Oliver, 2010). When the friction holding the surface rocks are overwhelmed by the forces, the plate of rocks are more likely to slip over each other leading to the onset of an earthquake.
Depending on the intensity of the pushing and opposing forces, some quakes may not have gross impact since they are hardly felt. However, other tremors might be intensive leading to massive loss in life and property. This paper explores the earthquake devastation to Haiti which occurred on 12th January 2010 and how the international community responded in a bid to rescue and resettle victims of the disaster.
Background
The Haiti capital, Port-au-Prince among other parts of the country was seriously devastated by the January earthquake. The quake recorded a magnitude of 7.0 in addition to aftershocks that caused further damages thereafter (Taft-Morales & Margesson, 2010).
Immediately after the main earthquake struck, it was impossible to relay any information since communication services were brought to a standstill owing to the destruction of communication infrastructure (Aronin, 2011).
The preliminary reports obtained by rescuers revealed that several people were either trapped in collapsed buildings or were left homeless and stranded in open air, not to mention the unaccounted deaths and untold suffering of the victims.
Although the initial estimates of those who tragically died in the quake have been continuously updated, the actual number may not be established due to uncertainty on the whereabouts of those who were deeply buried in the debris. A statement issued by the United Nations Secretary General indicated that approximately one third of the Haiti population may have been devastated by the earthquake (Ellingwood, 2010, August 1).
Aftershocks are even more disastrous than the primary quakes since such tremors can significantly cause additional loss in life and property bearing in mind that the structures have already been weakened by the primary quake and are highly susceptible to further damages.
In the case of Haiti, fourteen aftershocks were experienced with a magnitude greater than five while thirty others with magnitude more than four (Taft-Morales & Margesson, 2010). These aftershocks took place within a span of one day after the onset of the main earthquake. The aftershocks persisted for some weeks complicating the rescue effort.
In the event that there are steep slopes and uneven land surfaces such as hills and valleys situated within the vicinity of the epicenter, the likelihood of a major earthquake taking place is high while the aftershocks are easily triggered by the steep slopes due to landslides. As a result, both human life and structures located on the lower sides of the slopes are in greater danger.
This was phenomenon of Haiti earthquake and as a result, it even became cumbersome for rescue efforts to be directed in rugged topography (Oliver, 2010). In addition, most of the personnel who were part and parcel of the recovery teams were lost in the disaster making it difficult to reach out for the victims.
For instance, there were several reported cases of missing officials from the Haiti government, the aid personnel from the international community including rescue workers from United Nations. To worsen the situation, the basic infrastructure such as the main transportation routes and communication channels were brought down by the earthquake.
The airport located at Port-au-Prince was damaged leading to a quagmire in air traffic control. However, this challenge was immediately addressed by relocating the air traffic control authority to the United States.
So far, an optional port facility has been established by the US troops since the major port was grossly damaged by the earthquake. Besides, the government officials had to serve in temporary conditions owing to the breakdown in structures and facilities (Taft-Morales & Margesson, 2010).
Haiti had been receiving humanitarian aid from the international community even before the January 2010 earthquake. As a consequence of this external assistance, the country had already made significant strides in developing its economy ranging from security, management of the macroeconomics, reforms in important organs of the government such as judiciary to transparency in the fiscal processes (Ellingwood, 2010, August 1).
Moreover, the Haiti government had also improved the rate of employment and democratization process through increased voted registration. Nonetheless, the gains that had been made over the years were stagnated when the country had to focus on the disaster at the expense of development.
Emergency Response plans
Soon after the earthquake struck, President Peval acted fast and requested for external help from the international community. The top agenda for the country was to urgently embark on the search and rescue mission for those who had survived the calamity.
Besides, an offshore medical unit was set up to cater for the humanitarian crisis that had affected the country. Another unit for generating electricity was also established as part of material requirements for the rescue efforts (Deckelbaum, 2010).
Bearing in mind that communication system was brought down by the initial earthquake, the Haitian government appealed for equipment that could be used by rescue officials to communicate and coordinate their functions well.
Even as the Haitian ministries were coordinating and discharging their duties in makeshift offices, long term issues such as shelter needs for the homeless victims were being addressed. Survivors in the makeshift camps were served with both food and water by the agencies. Besides the Haitian government provide free movement of rescue officials, victims as well as materials so as to facilitate expedited rescue operations.
More than 400, 000 quake victims had to be transferred from the capital (Ellingwood, 2010, August 1). For the small cities that were equally affected by the earthquake, the Haitian government dispatched some officials to assist with the coordination of rescue efforts besides delivering aid materials such as food, water and medical treatment.
On the same note, the Haitian National Police worked hand in hand with the U.S security officers not only to maintain security, they also played the vital role of directing air traffic at the damaged Port-au-Prince airport.
In order to assess the damages caused by the earthquake as well as the immediate and long term needs, both the USAID and the Peval Administration worked as a team. Further, the World Bank and the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery assisted in the process of assessing the damage caused by the earthquake (Aronin, 2011).
Rescue operations
The rescue operations were divided into multiple phases. There were those groups that were concerned with searching and rescuing quake victims from various sites of damage such as in collapsed buildings. The second phase entailed the process of treatment and survival of victims who were lucky to come out alive from the catastrophe.
The third phase dealt with relocation and rehabilitation of victims who has been left homeless while the last phase focused on long term reconstruction of the country after the disaster. Notwithstanding the structured emergency repose plan, serious delays were reported in the transportation system.
Further, the delay was mainly occasioned by inadequate transportation infrastructure which had been damaged by the earthquake. Moreover, there were bureaucratic challenges all the way making it difficult for smooth rescue operations to be undertaken (Ellingwood, 2010, August 1). Worse still, poor access to disaster stricken areas was an equal hurdle in the rescue process.
The Haiti earthquake could have best been managed by critical timing as part of saving lives. However, communication breakdown led to slow response in coordination and assessment.
Although the government of Haiti injected the right effort in its rescue plan, there was lack of appropriate response from other levels of the government. Besides, the efforts of the international community were poorly aligned leading a relatively longer period of response time than necessary.
The United Nations managed to set up two vital teams to urgently respond to the earthquake. Firstly, the Disaster Management and Coordination (UNDAC) team was solely responsible for assessing the urgent areas of need that demanded immediate attention as well as coordinating the various rescue teams in reaching out for the survivors.
The second team known as the U.N Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) played an overlapping role of coordination with the first team. Moreover, OCHA also engaged itself in other humanitarian affairs beyond just coordinating the rescue teams.
In order to deliver its mandate well, OCHA worked very closely with the Haitian government such as in the process of seeking donor support where the government could not shoulder the burden in addition to coordinating military activities on the ground.
Over and above, a Joint Operations Tasking Center (JOTC) was created by OCHA so as to seek ways and means through which the military and civilians would coordinate in rescue efforts.
As part of the rescue effort by the international community, the United States government coordinated both capital and human-based resources to assist in offering the much needed relief during and after the disaster. The US led agency, USAID was in the forefront in providing humanitarian help to the survivors.
As President Obama noted, his government would entirely engage itself in the emergency response plan for the Haitians. Firstly, the military personnel were used in facilitating the logistics process such as distribution of food and water, searching for survivors as well as assisting the local Haitian military in offering security services.
Although the United Nations came in handy to offer emergency help during the January 12th earthquake, it is vital to note that local communities should also be trained in disaster preparedness skills so that they are in a position to respond to emergencies at the initial stages before other external parties lend their hand.
Furthermore, the establishment of seismic stations in Haiti to monitor earthquake related activities requires local talent to read, interpret and communicate the results and thereafter providing early warning to policy makers should there be need (Aronin, 2011).
Nonetheless, the United Nations remains the best body to coordinate response whenever there is an international catastrophe mainly because of two key reasons. Firstly, UN has adequate human and capital resources that can be used in the event of disasters compared to the affected nation.
Hence, the organisation can coordinate the necessary response plan as well as offer humanitarian services than the host country due to resource allocation. Secondly, UN is an international organisation and not a single nation and therefore it represents a collective effort of member states and can hardly be paralyzed by an international disaster affecting a particular country.
Better still, the organisation through its humanitarian organizations such as UNHCR is always prepared in the event of a disaster through its well trained staff unlike an individual country.
There were several members of the international community who pledged to offer their assistance to the victims of Haiti earthquake. For instance, Canada promised to send immediately a sum of five million Canadian dollars to the government of Haiti. Additionally, transport planes and disaster management team were put ready for dispatch (Taft-Morales & Margesson, 2010).
Also, assistance came from the Irish telecommunications company Digicel. The company pledged another five million dollars to assist in repairing the broken telecommunication network. Further, the European Commission endorsed a total sum of 4.3 million dollars and even promised the possibility of releasing more funds.
On the same note, the government of Spain also promised 3 million euro and equally sent some rescue officials with three transport planes in addition to relief equipment (Ellingwood, 2010, August 1). For Germany, 2.17 million dollars was donated in addition to a response team that was sent immediately.
A donation of 2.9 million dollars was donated by the Netherlands and also pledged to dispatch a search and rescue group (Oliver, 2010). A total of 64 firefighters were sent by Britain besides a pack of search dogs and rescue equipment (Deckelbaum, 2010).
Conclusions and recommendations
It is unfortunate that governments and aid agencies often focus on how to respond to disasters instead of developing long term and sustainable solutions to the calamities, whether natural or artificial. It is imperative to set up preventive measure alongside instituting mitigation measure as part of preparing for disasters.
To begin with, the Haiti government in collaboration with the international community should gather sufficient data on the prevalence level of fault lines in the country. Such data can be obtained from geological records or by conducting a fresh field work.
Using geological knowledge, the probability of those fault lines breaking loose due to movement of tectonic plates should also be established. This type of information may be used to produce a hazard map indicating areas prone to earthquakes.
Port-au-Prince was the hardest hit by the earthquake. It is vital to sample soil types from this region. This can be used to evaluate the given soil type can amplify vibrations during earthquakes. As a result, buildings and other structures constructed in disaster prone areas such as in the capital can be modified to withstand any possible shaking say in the next fifty years or so.
Moreover, seismic stations should be set up in the country to assist in monitoring earth movements in Haiti as possible indicators of earthquakes (Deckelbaum, 2010). Well established monitoring stations are needed to provide early warning signs so that civilians can be evacuated before calamity strikes.
References
Aronin, M. (2011). Earthquake in Haiti. New York: Beauport Publishing Company, Inc. Deckelbaum, D. (2010). “The Haiti earthquake: a personal perspective”. Canadian Medical Association. Journal, 182(5), E241-242.
Ellingwood, K. (2010, August 1). “The World; In Haiti tent camps, hope is faltering; A deepening despair hangs over displaced quake victims”. Los Angeles Times, p. A.3.
Oliver, C. (2010). Catastrophic Disaster Planning and Response. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
Taft-Morales, M. and Margesson, R. (2010). Haiti Earthquake: Crisis and Response. New York: Congressional Research Service.