Why So Many People Were Killed in the Haiti Earthquake of 2010?

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There have been many comparisons made between the San Francisco Earthquake of 1989 and the Haiti Earthquake of 2010 as they both suffered an earthquake of magnitude 6.9-7.0 however the damage done was very different. The 1989 earthquake occurred in Northern California on October 17 at 5:04 p.m. local time. The epicenter was located near Loma Prieta peak in the Santa Cruz Mountains, approximately 14 km (9 mi) northeast of Santa Cruz and 96 km (60 mi) south-southeast of San Francisco. The final death toll of 63 was well below the 300 expected deaths and the 31,000 deaths of the Haiti earthquake. There were only over 12,000 people left homeless in comparison to the 1 billion people left homeless as a result of the 2010 earthquake. This is because all houses in America have to go through a safety check before being sold to consumers to ensure that, in case of an emergency, they would be secure and minimally damaged. Most of the people left homeless in San Francisco were eventually able to return to their homes following repairs however houses in Haiti were turned to dust and families often had to find a new one. [pic 3][pic 4]

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There are many countries around the world, especially LEDC’s such as Pakistan, that need to learn a lesson from the Haiti earthquake of 2010. They need to know that the structure of a building has a massive impact on the death toll of an earthquake and that mass destruction can be prevented just by adding certain things to buildings such as cross beams that will give the building more support.

In conclusion, there were many factors that increased the death toll of the Haiti Earthquake 2010 such as housing, poverty and rescue and aid. It is also clear that, as you can see from the comparison of the San Francisco earthquake of 1989, the damage could have been minimalised and the damage could have easily been prevented.