Earthquake in Haiti

As you all know, a terrible earthquake has taken place in Haiti a few months ago. Although this post is a little late, i still hope you guys will enjoy it. Today, I shall be giving a brief summary and my reflections on this topic.

Firstly, let us watch a video



As we can see from the video, the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti was terrifying and horrible.

The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a  magnitude 7.0  earthquake, with an epicentre near the town of Léogâne, approximately 25 km west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. The earthquake occurred at 4.53pm local time  on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. By 24 January, at least 52 aftershocks measuring 4.5 or greater had been recorded. As of Feb. 12, an estimated three million people were affected by the quake; there were reports that between 217,000 and 230,000 people had been identified as dead, an estimated of 300,000 were injured, and an estimated of 1,000,000 were homeless.  They also estimated that 250,000 residences and 30,000 commercial buildings had collapsed or were severely damaged.

( Source of figures from wikipedia.org)




The earthquake caused major damage to Port-au-Prince, Jacmel and other settlements in the region. Many notable landmark buildings were significantly damaged or destroyed, including the Presidential Palace, the National Assembly building, the Port-au-Prince Cathedral, and the main jail. Among those killed were Archbishop of Port-au-Prince Joseph Serge Miot, and opposition leader Micha Gaillard. The headquarters of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), located in the capital, collapsed, killing many, including the Mission's Chief, Hédi Annabi.



Many countries responded to appeals for humanitarian aid, pledging funds and dispatching rescue and medical teams, engineers and support personnel. Communication systems, air, land, and sea transport facilities, hospitals, and electrical networks had been damaged by the earthquake, which hampered rescue and aid efforts; confusion over who was in charge, air traffic congestion, and problems with prioritisation of flights further complicated early relief work. Port-au-Prince's morgues were quickly overwhelmed; tens of thousands of bodies were buried in mass graves. As rescues tailed off, supplies, medical care and sanitation became priorities. Delays in aid distribution led to angry appeals from aid workers and survivors, and some looting and sporadic violence were observed.


On 22 January the United Nations noted that the emergency phase of the relief operation was drawing to a close, and on the following day the Haitian government officially called off the search for survivors.


Reflection :

This incident has caused me to be deep in thought. Firstly, I learnt that I am very fortunate to be living in a country like Singapore with no natural disasters. The people living in Haiti are very pitiful, for it is not their fault who caused such a tremendous and horrible aftermath. Yet, they have to bear with the pain and agony. The citizens of Haiti have no choice but to accept the terrifying fact and reality. Thus, through this incident, I have learnt not to take things for granted and to be grateful for whatever I have now, even like living in a safe country.

I feel that everybody should play a part in helping the Haitians as we are united as a world. When we are in times of needs, other countries such as the USA have also helped us. Thus, I feel that we should help the Haitians, and even if we are in need of financially assistance, we can still play a part in other means.