ledc case study haiti

Tectonic Hazards

LEDC Case Study – Haiti earthquake 2010

Continental drift?

Recap : tectonic plate boundariesRecap : tectonic plate boundariesConvergent plate (aka destructive/collision) - When plates collide together - Subduction - Forms volcanoes / mountains

Divergent plate (aka constructive) - When plates spread apart - Allows magma to the surface - Forms volcanoes / hot spots / islands

Transform plate (aka conservative) - When plates slide past one another - Creates friction - Causes earthquakes

Exam Qs Recap

Draw an annotated diagram to show how the movement of tectonic plates can cause earthquakes. [4marks]

Suggest some possible consequences of earthquakes and explain the impact on people. [3marks]

Plate tectonics

Haiti Earthquake 2010 – an LEDC case study of a tectonic Hazard

What you need to know:

•Background to Haiti

•What happened?

•Primary and secondary effects

Background

• Small Caribbean country, part of Dominican Republic island

• The poorest country in Latin America based on HDI (human development index )

• Politically unstable• Capital = Port-au-Prince• $GDP per capita = $697

• Google Earth files

What happened?

• 12 Jan 2010• 7.0 magnitude

earthquake• Epicentre was

25km west of the capital Port-au-Prince

Watch the news

• Haiti earthquake

Classify into primary and secondary effects300,000 people injured Cholera outbreak due to

poor santiation250,000 dwellings destroyed or badly damaged

International airport unusable

The heat and humidity started to decay corpses left in the rubble, leading to disease

230,000 Dead People sleeping in the streets as they feared the effects of aftershocks on damaged buildings

No telephone system, no internet or mobile phone signal

Electricity Supplies Damaged

Major confusion – public were not sure what was going on

Hospitals destroyed Mass graves dug

Main prison destroyed so 4,000 inmates escaped

500,000 people still living rough when rainy seasoin began in March

Key government buildings destryed

Haiti’s economy could not sustain its population before the disaster, 1 in 5 jobs were lost after the earthquake

International Migration into neighbouring Dominican Republic

Roads blocked 3,000 temporary tent schools set up

Relied on international aid for recovery (e.g. charity, foreign governments)

Facts and figures – 1 year on

• Describe the trends.

• One Year On

Watch the silent news clip.

• BBC news clip

• Construct a 1min news report that describes the earthquake and the primary and secondary effects.

Exam Qs

• ‘Explain how the movement of plates causes earthquakes along a Convergent plate boundary’ [3marks]

• “With reference to a case study you have studied, describe and explain the effects of the earthquake” [3marks]

Chose an image. Write a caption describing primary and secondary effects of the earthquake