Haiti...what happened?

What a horrible disaster. My heart goes out to those living in Haiti today, many who are now homeless. As more and more details emerge about the powerful earthquake that has shaken this Caribbean nation, the scarier the situation is for those living there. So what exactly happened? Although my field of study is meteorology (I am not a geologist), as a geosciences student I have studied faulting (at an introductory level) so I thought I’d post something here on the blog.

Why Haiti? This is the question that is being asked by many today as Haiti really is not known for being a “hot spot” for earthquakes. Well this lack of activity is actually part of the problem. Haiti does rest over a fault line that is comparable to the famous San Andreas Fault that has made California such a well known place for earthquakes to occur. The fault line that Haiti rests on is the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault. Now there are different types of faults that either converge or diverge, but the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault is what is known as a strike-slip fault.

A strike-slip fault is where two tectonic plates meet and move virtually parallel to one another in opposite directions. As you can see from the pick above, this particular fault slices right through Haiti and the Dominican Republic. (For all of you Geography students I know this is not the exact place the fault occurs…just bear with me). The movement of these two plates is very slow, far less than one inch a year. After many years of this tectonic movement, stress continues to build near the surface until finally it cracks and a very powerful earthquake occurs.

So why was this particular Earthquake so powerful? The answer to that question is time or, to be more specific, frequency. It has been a long time since a big quake has occurred in that region…a very long time. The last time Haiti was rocked by a quake anywhere close to that magnitude was over 200 years ago. In contrast, California is hit by quakes frequently as the San Andreas Fault moves faster than the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault. Since the frequency of quakes is greater along the San Andreas, they are far less intense. So it wasn’t a matter of “if” a big quake was going to strike Haiti but “when” and one thing is very clear...the people of Haiti need our help now more than ever.

With that being said here is how you can help. Click here to visit the Red Cross' website to make a secure, online donation. Keep in mind that Haiti was very poor to begin with and now many of its people are homeless. A large portion of their population lived in makeshift shacks and shanty's and these dwellings do not stand after an earthquake. Even buildings that are still standing have been left unsafe and many are likely to fall victim to one of the countless after shocks that will continue to occur. A donation to the Red Cross helps to heal the wounded, house the homeless and feed the hungry.