Why Earthquakes In Haiti Are So Catastrophic

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Locals recover their belongings from their homes destroyed in the earthquake in Camp-Perrin, Les Cayes, Haiti, Sunday, Aug. 15, 2021.

Joseph Odelyn/AP

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This is a map of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. The nation sits on a fault line between huge tectonic plates of the Earth’s crust, the North American Plate and the Caribbean plate. The dotted orange lines indicate fault lines.

Alyson Hurt/NPR

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Alyson Hurt/NPR

The southern one is known as the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault system.

It’s this fault that the U.S. Geological Survey says caused the Aug. 14 quake and the same one that caused the Jan. 2010 earthquake.

The USGS believes the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault zone can be blamed on other major earthquakes from 1751 to 1860. The agency said none of these quakes have been officially confirmed in the field as associated with this fault, however.

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A history of catastrophic earthquakes in Haiti

One of the earliest major recorded earthquakes in Haiti occurred in the 1700s, according to the USGS. Others followed, with researchers cataloging events that left hundreds dead and destroyed homes and businesses.

• November 21, 1751: a major earthquake destroys Port-au-Prince and causes major destruction in nearby towns. Witness accounts of the event from the National Centers for Environmental Information recount the devastation. «Houses and factories were thrown down at St.-Marc, Lkogbne, and Plaine du Cul-de-sac. Crevices formed and abundant springs of nauseous water broke forth,» researchers that witnessed the event described. «Great landslips occurred and the beds of the rivers changed direction.»
• June 3, 1770: an earthquake hits Port-au-Prince again. Researchers described the event as «one of the strongest shocks recorded on the Island of Haiti.» An estimated 200 people in the nation’s capital died as a result of the earthquake.
• April 8, 1860: This earthquake occurred farther west of the 2010 earthquake, near Anse-a-Veau, and was accompanied by a tsunami. «At Anse-a-Veau, crevasses sliced across the streets and 124 houses were demolished; at Miragoane, the bridge sank; at Petit Goave, all the houses were abandoned…,» researchers described the event. «Ships in the harbor of Les Cayes felt the shock, as did ships at sea.»

Before the 2010 earthquake, there hadn’t been another major quake along the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault zone for about 200 years.

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In this file photo dated Thursday, Jan. 14, 2010, people work to free trapped victims from the rubble of a collapsed building after an earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Gerald Herbert/AP

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Gerald Herbert/AP

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A woman walks in the rubble of her earthquake destroyed home as she attempts to recover her belongings, in Camp-Perrin, Les Cayes, Haiti, Sunday, Aug. 15, 2021.

Joseph Odelyn/AP

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