This weekend, not a lot of good things were in the news. Among the headlines was news that, on Saturday morning, a magnitude-7.2 earthquake struck near the north coast of Haiti’s southwestern peninsula. While this kind of an earthquake might be shrugged off by the populations of Japan or California, the stone and plaster buildings of the impoverished island nation are prone to crumbling and collapse. In the end, it is the architecture that traps and kills. 

Making things worse, Tropical Depression Grace hampered rescue efforts as it hit Monday and brough rain and wind. It’s estimated 30,000 families have been left homeless, with still-being-counted hundreds to perhaps thousands dying in collapsed structures.

This entire region is subject to regular earthquakes. In this region, the North American plate, on which Cuba is located, is moving along the Caribbean plate, which holds Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. This movement isn’t smooth and continuous but instead occurs in sudden slips that are experienced as quakes.

To me, part of the heartbreak of this story is that the loss of life was at least partly preventable. In wealthier countries, higher building standards and phone-based earthquake alert systems work to both keep buildings standing better and make it possible for people to potentially get under cover fast enough to make a difference.

More Information

Haiti Earthquake Kills Hundreds (Weather.com)

Haiti Earthquake Death Toll Soars Above 1,400 as Grace Brings Rain to Affected Areas (Weather.com)