IOM Launches Major Hurricane Season Awareness Campaign in Haiti by Radio and SMS

See: http://www.iom.int/jahia/Jahia/media/press-briefing-notes/pbnAM/cache/offonce?entryId=28241

PUBLICATION: Promoting Preparedness Against Hazard Events Through Primary Education in Haiti
(Western Washington University)

This teacher’s manual of classroom activities focuses on preparedness, response, and mitigation regarding three of Haiti’s major hazard events: hurricanes, earthquakes, and fires. To increase the success of implementation, pre-existing lessons developed in other countries have been adapted as well as new lessons devised. All activities are adapted for a context of minimal classroom resources and potentially poor literacy rates among students.

Each section has been arranged so that students learn the basic information about the hazard, followed by ways in which to prepare, and finally how to respond in the actual event of the hazard.

To download a copy of the manual go to: http://www.ineesite.org/uploads/documents/store/Haiti_School_Preparedness_Manual.pdf

A Quick Report from INEE (www.ineesite.org)

Haiti Crisis Update: Impact on Education

In addition to the large number of school age children affected by the January 12 earthquake in Haiti, high numbers of teachers and other education personnel have been killed and injured. While full data on the impact of the earthquake on the education system in Haiti is still not available, early indicators suggest that 90% of schools are damaged in affected areas and between 30-40% are damaged in indirectly affected areas. One estimate states the number of schools affected by the disaster is likely to be between 3,500 and 4,600. The Education Cluster estimates that 3 million children are not in school.

Schools in the non-affected or indirectly affected areas officially re-opened on 1 February 2010. However, parents are reticent to send their children to school due to fear of aftershocks and concern for their wellbeing after the stressful experiences many children and youth have witnessed. The UN news service says that only 10% of schools in the Port-au-Prince are functional, with 40% open in the southern port city of Jacmel and other localities. It is anticipated that schooling in the affected areas will restart in March 2010 in an effort not to lose valuable time in the current school year.

Dear Members,

Here are a few recently collected scientific information about the January 12 earthquake in Haiti and the related hazards.

• USGS-WHOI-DPRI Report (http://tinyurl.com/yeuz86s): Read the abstract, the motivation section, and look at figure 1. Segments of the Enriquillo fault both to the east and west are likely to slip in the next several decades. The timing if these future ruptures are unknown as of now. Calculations show a less than 2 percent chance of this occurring in the next month.

• The slip rate on the Enriquillo fault that slipped on January 12 is about 8 mm per year. The only recorded damaging earthquakes occurred near or on this fault were in 1751 and 1770. The slip deficit locally prior to the January earthquake had amounted to about 1.7 m close to the mean slip that was released by the January 12 earthquake. This means that the earthquake could have and indeed was foreseen, although its exact timing was uncertain.

• Landslips and rock falls: Many landslips were triggered by the January 12 earthquake.These landslips will be reactivated during heavy rain.

• As of now no evidence for faulting (surface rupture) has been obtained. Magnitude 7+ strike-slip earthquakes sometimes do not result in surface ruptures. M7.1 Loma Prieta earthquake on the San Andreas fault system is a good example of this. This is unfortunate. A surface rupture is of value to pin-pointing the fault that slipped in this earthquake and for understanding the reoccurrance interval of historic earthquakes on the fault and estimating the future probability of major earthquakes in this area. Scientists are still searching for surface rupture.

• Even though there was no major tsunami associated with the January 12 earthquake (no vertical slip), a submarine collapse caused a local tsunami which is reported by CNN to have drowned 7 Haitians.

• Liquefaction and lateral-spreading have been caused by the January 12 earthquake. They have been documented in harbors and fishing wharfs. No liquefaction was found in sediments inland.

• Port-au-Prince is constructed partly on fluvial deposits and partly on rolling foothills of colluvium and conglomerate. This makes the city vulnerable to earthquake hazards such as liquefaction and landslides.

• It appears that a 2-page building code existed in Haiti before the earthquake which was used by engineers but not by most of the contractors in the country.

• Here’s an interactive map that summarizes the above information (http://tinyurl.com/yfetsnr).