Virtual Tour

Biblography

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_L'Aquila_earthquake

http://ibgeography-lancaster.wikispaces.com/file/view/lquila-text-sources.pdf

http://www.radicalgeography.co.uk/laquilasum.pdf

http://www.aolnews.com/2010/04/06/an-earthquake-one-year-on-laquilas-example/

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1909148_1909157_1909641,00.html

http://emergency-planning.blogspot.in/2012/10/laquila-sentence-trial-or-witch-hunt.html

http://www.lifeinitaly.com/news/en/156498

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/earthquakes/laquila_italy_2009/index.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14981921

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/04/the_laquila_earthquake.html

My Thoughts

Haiti

For Haiti it was hard and it is always going to be hard but I just wish somehow if they could take help from other countries and associates but just have a rescue plan ready for next time. The Haitian people would have suffered alot less if they would have known. I am aware getting earthquake-proof houses is not really possible but the process could be faster if the houses were previously registered. What's happened is happened but I just wish there is not a next time like this Haiti has to face ever again.


Italy, L'aquila

Italy has been very active since the earthquake took place and they have been following their plan. Some that were earthquake proof buildings but still collapsed are under progress with better technology used.
However, I feel if Italy would have allowed some aid from outside they could have gotten on their feet much faster and people would have been much more satisfied. Another issue Italy faced for a long time was the rumble. They were unable to get funds to clear the rumble and for several months the roads were blocked due to that. In the heart of Western Europe, resuming back to normal lifestyle is still far from finished. And according to Government estimates it will take at least 10-15 years for the entire center to be rebuilt, I hope they overcome this soon enough so people can get back to a life full of culture and colors.

The Haiti and Italy

The Summary

Italy is an MEDC country that had an earthquake in 2009 in L'aquila.
The earthquake killed around 300 people and many buildings collapsed with it.
Rescue workers were sent out immediately to help the survivors. As per the recovery the nation is doing all they can to comfort their people. Also, the Prime Minister has come up with a long strategic plan that will attain completion by 2021. Several NGO's have also been helping many people cope with the disaster.

MY VOICE

I've been researching on these two earthquakes for a week now and I would like to talk about the two earthquakes neck to neck. 

The main two differences in the earthquakes would be their economy status.

The Haiti earthquake affected many people and it still is. Their recovery has been stretched for 3 years now and some countries still aren't meeting their pledges. Some rumble can still be found on the streets and around a thousand people are still living in camps with no water or food. I feel like even if somehow they do gain completion by 2014 then they would be back to their previous state. Their houses would still be made without any architects even though many associates are trying to prepare them. They are too low on economy and they would eventually need money for proper buildings. Also, they aren't educated to understand an earthquake they don't have a sense of it. As a result of that no rescue plans have been made previously either.

Italy had an earthquake and around 300 people died with many buildings crushing down too. They did have earthquake proof buildings but some of them failed too. The Italian Prime Minister has come up with many different plans to come up with his country. They are rebuilding many of the buildings and are funding for greater economy. They have gotten in touch with almost every homeless person and given a place to stay with food, water and basic facilities. The government also refuses to take any aid from elsewhere except for the US and together they are rebuilding many places. They are surely going to come back stronger than this time.

Responses to Italy

National Aid

1) Italian Post Office sent mobile offices to homeless camps in order to give them access to money and pensions.

2) Italian Sky stopped billing people and provided TV's to homeless camps. 

3) Italian train provided free tickets and carriages for people to sleep in

4) Mobile companies provided free mobiles

5) All tax payments stopped by the government

Long Terms-

1) Government to pay 100% or rebuilding and repairing

2) New towns to be funded by government to generate economic growth

International Aid

Prime Minister of Italy refused any foreign aid stating that Italians were "proud people". However, he announced that he would accept aid from the US for reconstruction saying ""If the United States wants to give a tangible sign of its solidarity with Italy, it could take on the responsibility of rebuilding heritage sites and 

churches. We would be very happy to have this support."

What really happened on the 6th of April, 2009? PART TWO

Destruction like?

Around 40,00 people who had been made homeless found accommodation in tented camps and a further 10,000 were housed in hotels. The prime minister also quoted in an interview "They have everything they need. They have medical care, hot food" he also seemed to have told the people in a homeless camp "Head to the beach. It's Easter. Take a break. We're paying for it; you'll be well looked after" The kind minister also offered his own house to some survivors. 

Their preparation before:
1) National government seismic department spreads awareness
2) Educated and know about earthquakes 
3) National seismic risk map updated regularly
4) "Earthquake Proof" Buildings 

Italy-Facts and Figures

1) Around 300 people died
2) 1,500 people were injured
3) 58,000 people were made homeless
4) Many building, bridges collapsed

     

5) 11,000 volunteers helped with the aftermath
6) 34,000 homeless people got temporary housing
7) Red Cross provided 10,000 meals per day

Impact of Earthquake

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gScnd5usRqY

This video shows how the NGO, 'Save The Children' are helping the younger crowd after the earthquake.
Have a look at how children and people seem to be coping after the earthquake hit Italy. 

What really happened on the 6th of April, 2009?

The earthquake occurred in the region of Abruzzo. Main shocks occurred at 3:32 local time and was a magnitude 6.3M earthquake.
The earthquake was felt throughout central Italy killing 297 people. Thousands of buildings were destroyed leaving around 28,000 people in temporary housing. Nearly 11,700 rescue workers provided emergency relief.

The Italy L'aquila Earthquake 2009

Italy: An MEDC Country

Italy is an MEDC country because they are strong with their economy. They have strong industries in Fashion, Cars, and Vineyards. They have many factories and have had progression in the years. In 2009 however, an earthquake hit Italy that did impact them but that's when their More Economically Developed Country's facilities come in handy.


Italy- Before Earthquake

Biblography

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2010rja6.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Haiti_earthquake

http://www.ageuk.org.uk/about-us/international/emergency-relief/haiti-earthquake/haiti-facts-and-figures/

http://www.preventionweb.net/english/countries/statistics/?cid=74

http://mywebs.hubpages.com/hub/Haiti-Earthquake-Facts

http://www.ibtimes.com/haitis-earthquake-destroyed-70-buildings-report-360983

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/12/haiti-earthquake-recovery-2013_n_2451267.html

http://www.unfpa.org/public/news/haiti

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Haiti_earthquake#Recovery

http://www.unfoundation.org/who-we-are/impact/our-impact/health-data-disaster-relief/haiti-earthquake-
response.html

http://www.salvationarmy.ca/2013/01/07/haiti-2013-continuing-the-path-to-recovery/

The Summary

Haiti is an LEDC country that went through a major earthquake in 2010. The earthquake killed and affected many people, and took many buildings with it. It's impact was huge and many people ended up in tents, camps etc. As per the recovery, it is a lengthy process and is going really slowly. Many countries and groups have tried to raise money for Haiti and a fair amount of money has also been raised. The project should attain completion by 2014. Many associations are also working on preparing Haiti for the future to prevent this kind of aftermath.

MY VOICE

When I was researching on this matter, there's something I noticed that I would like to bring up. When the news about the earthquake spread over, and it came in people's notice, help came from everywhere. National governments, charitable organisations, for-profit organisations, non-profit organisations they all began to coordinate and designed an aid to help the Haitian people. Some countries sent relief and rescue workers directly to the earthquake-hit zones, while others arranged for fund raising communities.
In my case, this was the very first time I had noticed something like this. The world coming together like that, helping each other in the times of need. It was just something that felt nice to think about and made me feel like a part of a big family and I wanted to just share it with you all.  :)

Progression In Haiti

Status Of The Recovery

6 months later...

98% of the rumble caused by the earthquake remained unclear with dead bodies in them

The people in the camps, tents etc. still had no housing arrangement prepared

Most camps had no electricity, running water, sewage disposal which caused many tents to break down.

Between 23 major charities, $1.1 billion had been raised for haiti, but only 2 percent of that money was released.



July, 2010...

Rebuilding still hadn't taken place because of a major issue-- 85% of the houses weren't registered.




October, 2010...

Cholera epidemic broke out, by the end of 2010 more than 3,333 people had died with around 50 deaths a day.




Jan, 2011...
5% of the rumble had been cleared

15% of houses been built

Pledges that had been made hadn't been followed through

Very little money collected to repair houses or clear rumble




Jan, 2012...

$4.5 billion pledged for reconstruction projects in 2010, 2011, only 43% delivered

Japan and Finland were one of the few donors to have fully met their pledges.

6% of aid has gone through Haitian institutions

Less than 1% of relief funding gone through Haitian Government

Million Haitians remained homeless


August, 2012...
Recovery hampered due to Tropical Storm Isaac, causing 29 deaths.

Because of the 2010 earthquake more than 400,000 Haitians had to experience the storm without any firm shelter.


Late October, 2012

370,000 Haitians still living in tents.

A second tropical storm- Hurricane Sandy, leaving 55 killed with large potions of Haiti under water.


Jan, 2013

Salvation Army continues to help Haiti.


Some Projects this year taken up by the Salvation Army-

1) 260 houses to be built

2) Livelihood support- army supporting 1,500 families. Aiming at houses headed by women with no husband to provide support, loans so they could start their businesses.

3) Agricultural Support- Basically supporting poor farmers to improve quality of life and to be supporting the Haitian economy.

4) Constructions to be finished (hurricane and earthquake resistant) by 2014

5) Prevention efforts for Cholera, a significant decrease can be seen.

6) Repairing schools, 5 schools already under repair.

7) They provide meals to 48 schools a day.

8) Psychologists have been arranged to get some people emotional and social support. They need to be given a sense of community.

Three Years On...

Haiti has with no doubt faced many challenges as the country slowly tries to rebuilt itself.

Might be slow, but it is taking place.

The American Red Cross has spent around $486 million in donations and has put in all efforts on establishing permanent housing. Progress has also been made in areas of health and education.
The Haitian Government has also committed to pay tuition for 900,000 children.
According to the World Bank, donors have arranged education for another 230,000 children.
UNFPA ( United Nations Fund for Population Activities) has been sending out health facilities throughout Port-Au-Prince, with kits to serve around 1.5 million people.
US raised around $48 million to help Haiti.
Brazil raised R$375 million for long term recovery and R$25 million for immediate funds.
Canada raised to a total of around C$50 million.
So many more countries like these have tried to help Haiti since the incident occurred.
The UN Foundation has raised donations to help Haiti too, some of the things they supported are:

• Grant $170,000 to ongoing solar light projects in Haiti.
• Provide food, medicine, water, and shelter following the earthquake 
• Recycle 20% of removed earthquake debris. 
• Provide jobs to more than 300,000 people.
• Provide training for more than 270,000 employees in development- and recovery-related fields.

Keep reading to know the Status of the Recovery!

"I don’t know if the worst is over. All those who have died or are missing represent a deep loss. But the real sadness and concern now revolves around the challenges to come for the survivors who will have to fight to keep going in a destroyed country, where the help that is arriving seems like a drizzle in the desert."
- Jorge Silva

What really happened on the 12th of Jan, 2010? PART 2

Destruction Like?


The Haiti earthquake destroyed about 70% of the buildings in 15 districts.
This earthquake was voted as the worst to hit the island in 200 years.
The damage was caused more because of the poor construction. Researches say many buildings were found built with no help of an architect or engineer!

To make this worse, Haiti wasn't prepared for this kind of a damage to occur and so, no rescue plans or contingency plans had been made previously.

A BBC report states "Thousands left homeless and almost every building destroyed.
In the capital, survivors have become desperate as they wait for aid being handed out by international agencies."
A survivor in the report says "We don't have any aid, nothing at all" he said "No food, no water, no medical, no doctors."
Many survivors have also been found leaving the 'quake-hit' areas in search of food, water or medicine.

Clearly, The LEDC country, Haiti wasn't prepared for any of this and for a simple reason that causes them a great disadvantage: They aren't economically strong.

My Movie on Haiti

This is a video I put together revolving around the Haiti Earthquake.
Hope you like it :)

Song used- I'm With You by Avril Lavigne

HAITI: Facts and Figures

 

IMPACT OF EARTHQUAKE

1) Around 2 million people were living in the most affected area
2) 1.5 million people were left homeless
3) 1.5 million people were left living in camps and orphanages because they had lost their homes.
4) 5,000 schools were either damaged or destroyed

Impact of Earthquake

This video shows the impact of the 2010 earthquake and the damage Haiti has suffered because of it.
To all those who couldn't survive the unfortunate disaster, May you all RIP.

What really happened on the 12th of Jan, 2010?

The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a magnitude 7.0M earthquake. The earthquake occurred at 16:53 local time.
By 24th at least 52 aftershocks measuring 4.5 or greater had been recorded.
Around three billion people were affected by the quake. About 316, 000 people died, 30, 000 people were injured and 1,000, 000 were made homeless.

HAITI- Before and After

Haiti: An LEDC Country

Haiti has been one of the poorest countries in the world. They had a major downfall when they had to pay France 150 million francs for its freedom in 1825. To top it all off, after the 2010 earthquake Haiti has suffered huge amounts of debt.

Haiti: Before Earthquake

The LEDC and MEDC

L.E.D.C
Less Economically Developed Country

M.E.D.C
More Economically Developed Country


Well, as the name suggests, An LEDC country is one which is not really that developed, this basically means that it does not have the same levels of facilities and comforts as compared to an MEDC in the aspects of healthcare, education, resources, energy supplies.

An MEDC country is one which is able to hold their status as a developed nation which includes having good healthcare, can be more available, high amount of tertiary jobs, basically a country that has enough sources to handle their country as well as reach out their hands to other countries in the times of need.