Haiti earthquake assessment task
The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic earthquake, with an epicentre
approximately 25 kilometres west of Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti. The
earthquake occurred at 16:53 local time on Tuesday, 12 January 2010.
Student tasks
1. Location: Use the two maps on this page to describe
the location of Haiti. Haiti is shown in green on the
map to the right.
Orthographic projection of Haiti. By Connormah courtesy
ofwikimedia.org/wiki/File:Haiti
2. Causes: Following the earthquake in Haiti in 2010, a seismologist was reported as
saying that it “was inevitable that Haiti would eventually experience a major
earthquake”.
With the aid of the map below, explain why the seismologist made this
statement.
Image used courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey
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Haiti earthquake assessment task
3 Effects: The effects of the Haiti earthquake were devastating and resulted in widespread damage to a significant area of the country.
The image below shows vehicles crushed beneath the remains of a hotel. The 2010 Haiti earthquake destroyed the hotel, with more
than 50 rooms.
i.
Label the image below to show some of the effects of the 2010 earthquake.
Image used courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey
© www.teachitgeography.co.uk 2015
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Haiti earthquake assessment task
ii.
Describe and explain the social, economic, environmental and political effects of
the earthquake
iii.
Explain how the following factors made the Haiti earthquake so devastating:
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Distance from the epicentre
Level of development (Haiti is one of the world's poorest countries and the
poorest in the Americas region)
Communications – accessibility for rescue teams etc.
Time of day
Extension tasks
1. Compare and contrast the effects of the Haiti earthquake with another earthquake in
an MEDC.
2. Use evidence and your own opinion to answer the following question:
Why do LEDC’s suffer greater damage from earthquakes than MECs?
Use the chilli levels below to grade your answer. Are you red hot?
Chilli level
Does your answer …
Describe?
Contain detailed descriptions and simple explanations?
Contain detailed descriptions, explanations and simple
comparisons?
Contain detailed descriptions, explanations and comparisons.
Contain simple conclusions and evaluations?
Contain detailed descriptions, explanations and comparisons.
Contain good, clear conclusions and evaluations?
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