Human catastrophe in Haiti: A couple of explanations

The 7-magnitude earthquake that destroyed Haiti on January 12 has been assessed by scientists as having 35 times the power to destroy the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima (Japan) during the World War. 2.

In an instant, Port-au-Prince became a place with a chaotic, chaotic atmosphere - Photo: ft.com

In just over a minute of shaking the earth and the sky, hundreds of thousands of people were killed, millions of people had to live in the 'sunshine of the earth', the capital of Port-au-Prince almost became a plain. According to Haitian officials, this is the worst earthquake in more than two centuries in this country.

This loss of life in Haiti is compared to the 2004 Indian tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people. The cause of the earthquake is gradually being clarified.

The experience is weak

One of the first causes is that Haiti has never had the necessary experience and preparation for such catastrophes. In underdeveloped scientific and technical conditions, predicting such a sudden and terrible earthquake is too much for the country. In 2008 when scientists at the University of Texas (USA) made a prediction about a huge earthquake that could happen in Haiti in the near future, no one thought it was true. Because in fact, Haiti is thought to have less earthquakes than other countries in the region (Mexico, Dominica .). The most significant earthquake in this island nation occurred in 1770 and the number of people killed was just over 200. It was the preemptive subjective mentality that pushed Haiti and the capital Port-au-Prince into this tragedy.

Rough infrastructure

The prime minister is also in the same situation - Photo: ft.com

Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world. The houses here are built mainly of un-reinforced concrete. When an earthquake occurs, buildings easily collapse under a 'domino' effect. Even the most definitive and most beautiful project in Haiti is the presidential palace that soon became a ruin after the earthquake. On the other hand, hundreds of thousands of people in Port-au-Prince are living in sleazy and rickety slums. They live under temporary wooden or metal roofs in the absence of clean water, no electricity, no sewage system . With such a poor infrastructure, the impact is not so great, the damage is real difficult to measure. The recent earthquake almost "raked in" everything in the Haitian capital, pushing millions of people into a scene of no-tolerance in extremely bad medical conditions.

Some survivors panicked and filled the streets with corpses of ill-fated people - Photo: ft.com

Stratigraphic fracture

According to the research of scientists and the island nation of Haiti in particular and the whole Caribbean region generally lies on two major stratigraphic faults: 'Septentrion' in the north and 'Enriquillo-Plaintain garden' in the south. This is one of the lands that is locked in the rubbing of the strata. Energy is accumulated gradually over the centuries and will inevitably have to be liberated. That was the cause of many large earthquakes in the region in the years 1770, 1946 and 2010. However, it should be said that Haiti is actually very unfortunate in the earthquake this time when it pointed out how the densely populated area (Port-au-Prince capital) is about 15km and the depth is only 8km. Normally, the closer the earthquake center is to the ground, the more devastating it is. With weak structures in Port-au-Prince, the depth of 8km is really a disaster.

It can be said that the earthquake in Haiti deserves to be one of the biggest human disasters in this first decade of the 21st century: natural disasters and humanitarian disasters. The cause of great losses in people and people in this country can come from many sides: subjective and objective. But, somewhere on the other side of the globe, there are people struggling in the sea and writhing in pain both physically and mentally. That is the greatest truth .