Jan 12, 2010 - The island of Hispaniola is home to the countries of Haiti on the western third of the island and the. Do
January 12, 2010 Haiti is Struck by a Devastating Earthquake The island of Hispaniola is home to the countries of Haiti on the western third of the island and the Dominican Republic, on the remaining two thirds. The earthquake that struck the island on January 12, 2010, devastated Haiti, which was hit harder than any other part of the island. An exact death toll was not able to be counted, but the government of Haiti estimated the number killed at approximately 316,000. Of the many survivors of the earthquake, millions lost their homes. Port-auPrince, the capital of Haiti, along with many other cities, was mostly destroyed. When the earthquake hit, the nation was still trying to recover from tropical storms and hurricanes that had hit two years earlier that had killed many and left the country’s agricultural system in ruins.
The earthquake struck at 4:53 p.m. about 15 miles (25 km) southwest of the capital of Haiti. It was measured as a 7.0 magnitude earthquake, and there were many aftershocks. The first two were both 5.5 or higher. Scientists recorded more than fifty aftershocks that occurred over the two weeks following the initial earthquake, including a very strong one that hit on January 20, 2010, about 35 miles (55 km) west of the capital. Haiti had not been hit with such strong earthquakes in over 200 years.
Government buildings, schools, hospitals, and even prisons were destroyed. Many people were trapped waiting for help to get out of the rubble. Rescue teams tried to help the earthquake survivors, but the devastation of ports and airports caused problems getting help to the people quickly.
Countries all around the world promised help to the people of Haiti, including a 10-year commitment to do whatever was needed to help the country recover.
Go to the research/writing prompts that follow. The first is for younger students to research how earthquakes happen. The remaining two challenge older students to research the reasons the devastation was so great and what has been and is still being done to help the country recover.
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Research what causes an earthquake. What was the cause of the earthquake in Haiti? Write about your findings. _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ ©2016 Bonnie Rose Hudson WriteBonnieRose.com
A 7.0 earthquake is always serious, but there have been powerful earthquakes in the past that have not caused the same degree of devastation as the earthquake in Haiti. Why is that? What factors contributed to the terribly high death toll and destruction? Do some research and share your findings. _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ ©2016 Bonnie Rose Hudson WriteBonnieRose.com
Research the recovery efforts that followed the earthquake. What has been done to help the people? What remains to be done? What do you think could have been done better, if anything? _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ ©2016 Bonnie Rose Hudson WriteBonnieRose.com
