According to reports from Haiti, the relief effort is in full swing, and although search and rescue efforts were officially stopped, in truth,  they are still happening, and of course this is a hopeful event for the people in Haiti.  According to Christiane Amanpour, the U.N. is beginning to work toward the clearing away of debris by hiring Haitians, and also is encouraging as many people as possible to travel to other parts of the country to be with family and friends, away from the center of the earthquake damaged Port-Au-Prince.  Yet this has resulted in the destination towns being overwhelmed with people, but without any supporting resources.

Plate and Fault Systems in the Caribbean and Haiti

As the U.N. and the Haitian government make plans for the reconstruction and rebuilding Port-Au-Prince, and surrounding communities, it will be crucial buildings and roads be designed with knowledge fault lines, and potential earthquake zones.

To geologists, there was no surprise that the 7.0 earthquake occurred, as cruel as it was to the people of Haiti.  As shown in the Plate and Fault Systems map shows, there are two horizontal east/west faults.  It was movement along one of these two faults, the Enriquillo Fault, a strike-slip fault, that caused the 7.0 earthquake.  Geologists have reported that there have been earthquakes along this fault line, the most recent about 200 years ago.

Plate Movements in the Caribbean

The seismic activity in the region is caused the movement of tectonic plates.  In a New York Times article, the geology of the region is explored by Henry Fountain.  In this piece, Fountain reports that:

The recent quake on the Enriquillo fault and the forecast for the Septentrional are bleak reminders that the Caribbean is an active seismic zone, one with many hazards. Major earthquakes have regularly devastated the region’s cities, including the Jamaican capital, Kingston, which was destroyed twice in three centuries.

In the reconstruction of Haiti, it will be important that the knowledge of the potential for earthquakes be taken into account in the development of new buildings, especially schools and hospitals.