Haiti : Volcanic Activity

Although Mother Nature and Haiti have a very close relationship, where they share almost every natural hazard known to man, from earthquakes to tsunamis as I have covered before, Haiti although being near several subduction zones on the Caribbean plate, has not actually had volcanic activity for millions of years. The entire island of Hispaniola, that Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic, has no active volcanoes. However, as I said before, being near so many subduction zones, the possibility of a volcano forming in the future is more than likely. Most of the volcanic activity that occurs on the Caribbean is in the Lesser Antilles, where as Hispaniola lies in the Greater Antilles as shown below.

  

Sources:

Caribbean Volcanoes Map

Why the Caribbean is a mini ring of fire

Haiti Seismicity and Disaster Prevention Status

      Following the 7.0 earthquake that hit Haiti in 2010, or the Goudougoudou as known by the local populace, the USGS stepped in to provide more support and set up the countries first ever national seismic network in Haiti. Also, more recently, the International Code Council, a nonprofit organization responsible for creating stronger buildings that can withstand sizable earthquakes, pledged to help the Haitian's with access to their plans and professionals to aid in the rebuilding process. However earthquakes are not the only natural hazard this country is vulnerable to, which complicates and draw out the reconstruction of this country.

Sources: 

Index For Risk Management - Haiti

USGS - Earthquake Monitoring in Haiti

How can we prevent the next big Haiti earthquake?

Haiti's Position on the Carrribean Plate

Haiti sits on a border of the North American plate and Caribbean Plate. It nearest a transform plate boundary, so as the North American plate moves west, the Caribbean plate moves east which causes a lot of friction that is unleashed as high magnitude earthquakes. It is also due to the strike-slip fault systems that run through northern and southern Haiti. A recent example is of the 2010 Magnitude 7 earthquake that tore apart its nation's capital and killed over 90,000 people. 

Sources:

Haiti - Tectonic Plate Boundaries

Why is Haiti Vulnerable - The Guardian

What are Natural Hazards, Disasters, and Catastrophes?

What are the differences between hazard, disaster, and catastrophe? Here's a list of what defines each event.

Natural Hazard:

Key Attributes:

• a event and natural process.
• a threat to human life and property.
• the process itself is not a hazard, they only become due to humans use of land. 

Disaster:

Key Attributes:

• hazardous event.
• occurs over a limited time span.
• defined area.

Criteria To Be Met(Minimum of One):

1. 10 or more killed.
2. 100 or more affected.
3. State of Emergency declared.
4. International assistance is requested.

Catastrophe:

Key Attributes:

• Massive Disaster
• Requires significant expenditure of money.
• Long period of recovery(often years).