haiti before the january 12 event: exposure, seismicity...
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Haiti Before the January 12th Event:
Exposure, Seismicity and State of the
Engineering Practice
Pierre Fouche
Ph.D. Candidate, Civil, Structural & Environmental
Engineering
March 26, 2010
Before the January 12th Event
Haiti: A History of Difficulties…• A country born from a slave revolution
• Immediate international sanctions to contain an exportation of this revolution to other colonies of the time
• Restricted access to the global economy
• Internal unrest and dissensions
• Chronic political instability
• Atrophied economy
…But Also of Natural Disasters• Located in the hurricanes belt
• Hurricane Flora killed 8,000 in 1963, the 6th
most devastating hurricane of all time
• Exposed to flash floods and landslides due to severely degraded environment
• Exposed to earthquakes
• Cap-Haitian earthquake of 1842 claimed 10,000lives
• Port-au-Prince destroyed by an earthquake in1770
Haiti’s Historical Seismicity (Calais, 2002)
Before the January 12th Event• Social situation
• Lack of affordable and hazard resistant housing
• Strained economy with chronic job losses and high unemployment rate
• Overpopulated capital city (1/3 of the population of the country)
Before the January 12th Event• Condition of the built environment
• Poor urban planning: Reflection of the state ofpoverty
• Absence of lifelines and designated emergencyshelters
• Non-application of the laws related to zoning• No enforcement of the laws relative to
construction• Poor knowledge of the state of the public
infrastructure• Predominance of auto-construction and
incremental construction
Before the January 12th Event• State of the engineering practice
• No sound construction practices• No uniformity in design practices• Ignorance or limited application of construction
code• Absence of quality control in design and
construction• No appropriate standards for materials used in
construction
Before the January 12th Event• State of the engineering practice
• Engineers and architects generally uneducatedabout earthquakes
• No licensure requirements so no legal framework for accountability
• Absence of seismic design requirements or guidelines
The January 12th Event
Widespread Collapse of Unplanned Hillside Construction
SOURCE: AFP
Damage to Engineered Construction(St-Louis de Gonzague Catholic School)
Damage to Historical Landmark (Fort Jacques, Haiti)
SOURCE: ISPAN
Damage to Government Building (Haiti National Palace)
SOURCE: MATTHEW MCGREGOR, ABOVE; JORGE CRUZ, BELOW
The Earthquake in Numbers (Source: Haitian Government as of 02/12/10)
• People affected: ~3,000,000
• Casualties: ~230,000
• Injuries: ~300,000
• Homeless: ~1,000,000
• Collapsed/severely damaged residences: ~250,000
• Collapsed/severely damaged commercial buildings: ~30,000
• 13 of 15 government buildings collapsed
After the January 12th Event
Hope, Resolutions and Challenges…• An occasion to change of paradigm
• An occasion to build better
• But needs are overwhelmingly diverse
• Financial resources• Human resources (education and capacity
building)• Risk reduction and resilience building…
Hope, Resolutions and Challenges…
Uncertainties are high but the Haitian people is hardworking and always courageous in the face of adversity.
THANK YOU
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