HAITI EARTHQUAKE
On the 12th of January 2010, a devastating earthquake hit the vulnerable island nation of Haiti at 16:53:09 local time. Haiti occupies the western third of the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean ocean. Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, was home to over 2 million people when the quake hit. Haiti Is considered one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere, over 70% of the population live on less than $2 a day and the city consists mainly of poorly built slums and open sewage systems. The 2010 earthquake was the first ever earthquake to strike this Caribbean country since the year 1770. The magnitude of the earthquake was 7.0 and its epicentre was 25km (15min) from the capital. The duration of the earthquake was only 15-20 seconds, but it triggered an outstanding international rescue effort.
WHAT IS AN EARTHQUAKE?
Earthquakes are vibrations felt in the earth’s crust, they are caused by the movement of the earth's tectonic plates. The plate tectonic theory is a theory that suggests that the outer, more rigid layer of the earth is divided up into a number of large and minor plates (much like a cracked egg). These plates float on the mantle and move in different directions at different rates.
Image 1: Tectonic plates on a world map
Image 1: Tectonic plates on a world map
Convection currents in the mantle of the earth are the driving force for plate movement.
As the magma in the mantle is heated by the earth’s core, convection currents are created. As molten rock is heated by the core, the less dense heat pockets rise to the underside of the crust, forcing the denser, cooler pockets to sink back down to the core. This force creates friction and slab pull therefore causing plate movement, which once again links back to the cause of earthquake's. |