2. Highlights of 2009/2010

2-3. Field Survey on Haiti Earthquake
Atsushi Koresawa, Executive Director of Asian Disaster Reduction Center(ADRC), visited Haiti
from 4 to 12 March 2010 to assess the damage caused by the earthquake on 12 January 2010 aswell as to explore the pressing needs for recovery. The following provides an overview of thefindings and observations from this mission.
(1)The impact of the Haiti earthquake on
the capital
The Port-au-Prince metropolitan area ishome to approx. 2.5 million people, one
quarter of the national population. In thecenter of the capital, almost all governmentbuildings, including the Presidential Palace,Parliament and Ministries were completely
destroyed, resulting in the deaths of many
government officials.
As a result, government functions were

Fig 2-3-1 Presidential Palace

paralyzed, hampering immediate response and(the second story collapsed)

early recovery work. Economic and social
activities were also greatly affected. Since the country’s economic and administrative center was
severely damaged, the earthquake affected almost every part of Haiti. This is what makes the Haiti
earthquake distinct from many other disasters.
(2)Underlying factors
Natural disasters are natural, but they are also social insofar as they often are a result of thecombined effects of such factors as unplanned human settlements, poor construction, lack of basic
services and adequate infrastructure, and lack of coping capacity. Haiti is a case in point. It isoften cited as “the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere” with about 80 percent of Haitians
living in poverty.
Widespread informal settlements have been established in the suburban areas of the capital.
Furthermore, the Haitians had made virtually no preparations for a large-scale earthquake because
Haiti, unlike its more earthquake-prone neighbor, the Dominican Republic, had not experienced
such an event in the last two centuries or so.
Therefore, it is no surprise to hear that in the wake of the earthquake, the World Bank began
working with the Haitian government to start training thousands of engineers in the assessment of9seismic resistance.
(3)Challenges ahead
The challenges that lie ahead are enormous, and include the following:- Even two months after the earthquake occurred, most buildings destroyed in Port-au-Prince
and other devastated areas remain almost as they were, with very limited progress made in
debris removal. Given the huge scale of the work to be done, it is likely to take many months
for the destroyed buildings to be cleared away, let alone rebuilt.
- Some 1.3 million people are reported to be displaced and living in mostly spontaneous
settlements without basic services or protection. As the rainy season (and then hurricaneseason) approaches, many displaced people are at high risk of being affected by flooding,landslides, and disease. The provision of safe transitional shelters is a matter of great urgency,
but progress has been very slow due to the lack of a systematic implementation program.
- It has been reported that some 60,000 people left after the earthquake to seek shelter, food, andother basic necessities in the countryside. The Haitian government wishes to pursue a better
distribution of the population and economic activities throughout the country by creating new
regional development centers, thereby avoiding a recreation of the situation that prevailed
before the earthquake.
Haiti will require continued assistance for many
years to come, and faces challenges that must be
met not by Haiti alone but by the international
community as a whole. The government expects
reconstruction and recovery to be achieved in 10years. ADRC would like to continue to explore
ways to provide support to Haiti through theframework of the International Recovery
Platform (IRP) as well as to share Haiti’s
experiences with the countries of Asia.

Fig 2-3-2 Collapsed houses insuburban Port-au-Prince

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