Earthquakes which are commonly referred to as a seismic event can change, and affect, the lives and properties of many people once it has hit with a great magnitude. The initial rupture on the earth’s point is known as the hypocenter but when it generates its seismic waves on the ground point level above the hypocenter, it is already there everything is affected due to the epicenter’s rupture reaching the surface of land or bodies of water affecting all within the area of its epicenter up to the nearby places.
The Hispaniola Island which Haiti and the Dominican Republic shared is seismically active and has a history of harsh earthquakes. History would tell that even during French colony on Haiti's time earthquakes were recorded by Moreau de Saint-Méry, a French historian. He defined destruction done by an earthquake in 1751 through his writing that only one masonry building had not collapsed in Port-au-Prince. He further emphasized when he wrote that the whole city collapsed in 1770 Port-au-Prince earthquake. During May 7, 1842, there was an earthquake which Cap-Haïtien, other towns in the north of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and the Sans-Souci Palace were destroyed. Then, a magnitude of 8.0 struck the Dominican Republic and shook Haiti on an earthquake last August4, 1946, which created a tsunami that killed 1,790 people.
Everyone can still recall the 2010 Haiti earthquake which made a great disaster after the residents of Haiti experienced a magnitude 7.0 from its epicentre near the town of Léogâne, roughly 25 km west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital on Tuesday of January 12, 2010. After 12 days, there were at least 52 aftershocks and the sad impact caused 3 million people to be affected and suffer in worst condition and food shortage. It was pronounced by the Haiti government that the tragic event led to an estimated 316, 000 death toll with 300, 000 injured plus 1 million homeless Haiti people. There were 250, 000 residences and 30, 000 commercial structures had collapsed and damaged severely by the catastrophic tremor .Different International agencies came to help and rescue the victims together with the distribution of relief goods and other humanitarian aid.
The physical environment of affected places was totally devastated and this composed of the major damage in Jacmel, Port-au-Prince and other port regions. Many remarkable landmark structures were notably damaged, Presidential Palace, the National Assembly building, the Port-au-Prince Cathedral and , the Port-au-Prince Cathedral, the Port-au-Prince Cathedral is also ruined which even Archbishop Joseph Serge Miot and Micha Gaillard, an opposition leader were killed. Mission’s Chief, Hédi Annabi was also killed along with many others when the headquarters of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti has collapsed.
The beauty of friendliness, camaraderie, sense of cooperation and unity among nations and private sectors were greatly recognized during the rescue operations and giving of humanitarian aid. Many volunteer medical teams, civic leaders, engineers and support workforces had join hands to help the Haiti government on its bad situation. As rescues tracked off, food supplies, clothing, medical care and sanitary goods became urgencies. The sidelight on the delays in aid distribution led to the panic and violence among the rescued victims while leaving a great dilemma and angry appeals from aid workers and survivors. Burgling and intermittent violence were observed on the area because of the severe worst experience and lack of supplies for all the victims of Haiti earthquake.