{"id":7075,"date":"2026-04-30T16:26:56","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T20:26:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/caribbean-risks.org\/?p=7075"},"modified":"2026-05-06T15:50:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T19:50:53","slug":"earthquakes-in-haiti-why-is-the-country-hit-again-and-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/caribbean-risks.org\/es\/earthquakes-in-haiti-why-is-the-country-hit-again-and-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Earthquakes in Haiti : Why is the country hit again and again ?"},"content":{"rendered":"[et_pb_section fb_built=\u00a0\u00bb1″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb da_disable_devices=\u00a0\u00bboff|off|off\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb da_is_popup=\u00a0\u00bboff\u00a0\u00bb da_exit_intent=\u00a0\u00bboff\u00a0\u00bb da_has_close=\u00a0\u00bbon\u00a0\u00bb da_alt_close=\u00a0\u00bboff\u00a0\u00bb da_dark_close=\u00a0\u00bboff\u00a0\u00bb da_not_modal=\u00a0\u00bbon\u00a0\u00bb da_is_singular=\u00a0\u00bboff\u00a0\u00bb da_with_loader=\u00a0\u00bboff\u00a0\u00bb da_has_shadow=\u00a0\u00bbon\u00a0\u00bb][et_pb_row _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb min_height=\u00a0\u00bb517px\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb][et_pb_column type=\u00a0\u00bb4_4″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb][et_pb_image src=\u00a0\u00bbhttps:\/\/caribbean-risks.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/haiti_2010_01821_jpg-scaled.jpg\u00a0\u00bb title_text=\u00a0\u00bbEarthquake in Haiti 2010″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb background_enable_image=\u00a0\u00bboff\u00a0\u00bb background_size=\u00a0\u00bbcontain\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb]

Earthquakes in Haiti : Why is the country hit again and again ?<\/b><\/h1>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb]

In 2010, then again in 2021 – eleven years apart – Haiti was struck by two devastating earthquakes with magnitudes above 7. Before them, there were the earthquakes of 1751 and 1770.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=\u00a0\u00bb1_4,1_4,1_4,1_4″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb custom_padding=\u00a0\u00bb20px|||||\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb min_height=\u00a0\u00bb172.6px\u00a0\u00bb][et_pb_column type=\u00a0\u00bb1_4″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb][et_pb_text _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb animation_style=\u00a0\u00bbfade\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb]

Mw 7,0<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Magnitude of the January 2010 earthquake \u2013 nearly 300,000 deaths<\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=\u00a0\u00bb1_4″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb][et_pb_text _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb animation_style=\u00a0\u00bbfade\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb]

Mw 7,2<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Magnitude of the August 2021 earthquake \u2013 more than 2,200 deaths<\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=\u00a0\u00bb1_4″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb][et_pb_text _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb animation_style=\u00a0\u00bbfade\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb]

270 km<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

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Length of the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault crossing Ha\u00efti<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=\u00a0\u00bb1_4″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb][et_pb_text _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb animation_style=\u00a0\u00bbfade\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb]

10 km<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Depth of the earthquake foci in 2010 and 2021 \u2013 extremely shallow<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb][et_pb_column type=\u00a0\u00bb4_4″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb][et_pb_text _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb border_width_bottom=\u00a0\u00bb2px\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb]

A geological story : Haiti at the crossroads of two tectonic plates<\/h2>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb][et_pb_column type=\u00a0\u00bb4_4″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb][et_pb_text _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb]

To understand why Haiti shakes, we must first look beneath its feet. The island of Hispaniola, which Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic, occupies one of the most tectonically unstable positions in the entire Caribbean. The island lies in a seismically active zone, caught between two tectonic plates : the North American Plate to the north and the Caribbean Plate to the south. These two massive plates move relative to each other, creating enormous stresses that the rock cannot absorb indefinitely.<\/p>\n

Near the northern boundary, the Caribbean tectonic plate moves eastward at about 20 mm per year relative to the North American Plate. This relative motion may seem tiny – two centimeters per year, roughly the speed at which fingernails grow. But over centuries, it accumulates enormous energy that is inevitably released all at once in the form of an earthquake.<\/p>\n

In Haiti, this movement is absorbed by several fault systems, including two major strike-slip faults that dominate the island\u2019s seismic landscape.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb border_width_bottom=\u00a0\u00bb2px\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb]

January 12, 2010 : when the Earth released 250 years of accumulated stress<\/h2>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb]
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On January 12, 2010, a major seismic disaster struck the Port-au-Prince region. The death toll was extremely high, at least 220,000, despite a relatively common magnitude (Mw) of 7.0. Globally, between fifteen and twenty earthquakes of this magnitude occur each year.<\/p>\n

Several geophysical factors intensified the destruction. First, depth : the very shallow hypocenter, at only about 10 km, significantly amplified the damage. The shallower an earthquake is, the more seismic energy reaches the surface. Second, proximity : the epicenter was located just 25 km from Port-au-Prince, one of the most densely populated capitals in the region. Finally, site effects : the local geology beneath parts of the city – soft fill, riverbanks, and flood-prone areas – amplified seismic waves locally, a well-documented phenomenon in seismology.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The 2010 earthquake caused two to three times more casualties than the most catastrophic known earthquakes of similar magnitude (around Mw 7). The most dangerous seismic ruptures are often those generated by relatively small faults located close to urban areas.<\/p>\n

Encyclop\u00e6dia Universalis \u2013 Analyse du s\u00e9isme d’Ha\u00efti<\/span><\/em><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb][et_pb_column type=\u00a0\u00bb4_4″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb][et_pb_text _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb border_width_bottom=\u00a0\u00bb2px\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb]

2021: the fault strikes again, further to the west<\/h2>\n

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On August 14, 2021, at 8:29 a.m., the ground shook once again. A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck the commune of Petit-Trou-de-Nippes, in the Tiburon Peninsula, about 150 km west of the capital, Port-au-Prince. The country, still struggling to recover from the 2010 disaster, was once again brought to its knees.<\/p>\n

This magnitude 7.2 earthquake was caused by deep underground movement, invisible at the surface. Subsequently, another type of movement took over, triggering several surface ruptures located west of the earthquake\u2019s initial point of origin. The toll was severe: more than 2,200 deaths, tens of thousands of injuries, and over 600,000 people directly affected and in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb][et_pb_column type=\u00a0\u00bb4_4″ _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb][et_pb_code _builder_version=\u00a0\u00bb4.27.6″ _module_preset=\u00a0\u00bbdefault\u00a0\u00bb global_colors_info=\u00a0\u00bb{}\u00a0\u00bb]