Haiti's Earthquake: Why the Haitian Earthquake Caused Such Devastation

Why did such massive destruction happen with the Haitian earthquake? There have been other earthquakes of the same magnitude as Haiti's without such high loss of life-for example, the one that hit San Francisco right before the third game of the 1989 World Series. The Loma Prieta earthquake was tragic, but it caused less damage and certainly did not incur the extreme numbers of those experiencing life-threatening trauma. Why did Haiti's earthquake have such devastating results?

The first factor to take into consideration is the difference between magnitude and intensity. Magnitude is the amount of energy generated by a quake as the earth's plates slide past each other, and is measured in values of 1-10 on the Richter scale. Both San Francisco and Haiti suffered earthquakes of approximately 7.0 magnitude.

Intensity, on the other hand, is the amount of shaking that takes place at ground level, and is an indication of how strongly the quake is felt, measured on a scale of 1-12. An earthquake of magnitude 7.0 that's deep within the earth, and has to travel many miles through the earth's crust to reach the surface, will have a smaller intensity than one that occurs at less depth. In Haiti's case, the quake happened 13 km (8.1 miles) beneath the surface, which is a relatively shallow depth, and caused intense shaking at the surface for approximately forty seconds. According to the British Geological Survey, Haiti's quake was at the top of the intensity scale.

Another point to take into account is the nature of the ground. An earthquake that occurs in a rocky setting, such as in a mountainous region, has less ground shake. Haiti's soil structure, particularly in the Port-au-Prince area, is sedimentary, thus creating greater shaking.

The last factor relates to the high population density in the quake area, as well as Haiti's infrastructure. According to the USGS, the quake's epicenter was 25 km (15 miles) southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital city, which has a population of approximately 1,200,000. In addition, because of Haiti's political situation and poor economy, construction was not well regulated by code, structures were not reinforced with adequate steel and therefore not earthquake resistant. In essence, buildings like that crumble to the ground in an earthquake.

Those, of course, are the facts and figures. They don't come close to relating the stories of the men, women and children who suffered through the quake. Statistics don't tell of the sadness and shock at the loss of loved ones, or the agony and pain endured from traumatic injuries.

Please find room in your heart to pray for the people of Haiti, and if possible to donate to Haitian relief through the Red Cross, the International Rescue Committee, Catholic Relief Services, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Relief Fund, or any other bona-fide charity of your choice.

If you don't have any spare cash, go out to C.L. Beck: Write Up My Alley, where your comment on her blog is worth $1.00, which will be donated to charities for Haitian Relief. The offer there runs through Feb. 5, 2010.

In addition, you can also check out Associated Content articles on Haiti. Associated Content is offering to match page view payments on article assignments on Haiti and to donate those amounts to the International Relief Committee. The offer at Associated Content currently runs through Jan. 31, 2010.

Sources:

Live Science http://www.livescience.com/environment/haiti-earthquake-explainer-100113.html, http://www.livescience.com/environment/haiti-earthquake-faq-101013.html
Mail Online: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1242827/Haiti-earthquake-Why-devastating.html
USGS: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2010rja6.php#details