Kingston At End Of Haiti Earthquake Fault Line

[Willi]

5.5

[Willi]

Oh, no one disputes the fact that the damage would be horrific, but the loss of life would likely be relatively less.

P. au P has 3 million people and so is 3 times larger than Kgn.

Older buildings in Kgn would be vulnarable as would shacks, dilapidated buildings and some prefabs as you said. However, if you see the Haitian buildings, there are a lot of low income multi-story concrete houses built on hill sides that are of poor quality.

Finally, this EQ is MORE than just a 7.0 for P-au-P. It was shallow, only 8km in depth for the epicentre and only 15Km from the capital. Right on their doorstep!You can equate this to something like an 8 point EQ further away!

[Bricktop]

I have heard from some construction experts who have worked in Haiti that even a 2.0 earthquake would have caused severe death due to non-existent building codes, much less seismic codes.

Not true. There are hundreds of 2.0 earthquakes on that fault line each year we just don't feel them.

[Willi]

Buildings that do not incorporate specific seismic codes in their design are likely to be damaged/destroyed with a 7.0 earthquake. I have heard from some construction experts who have worked in Haiti that even a 2.0 earthquake would have caused severe death due to non-existent building codes, much less seismic codes.

For some reason their is a perception that Jamaica is less vulnerable than Haiti, and can withstand an earthquake of similar magnitude. If new buildings are not built with seismic codes in their design elements, and older buildings are not reinforced, there would be extensive damage. Jamaica uses a lot of precast concrete for housing construction, and those tend to be vulnerable.

The steel in the blocks mek a big difference. Haiti apparently dont use a lot of steel.

Jamaica has survived completely intact with at least 5 5 point EQs in my lifetime. Most I ever heard about were minor cracks.

[Karl]

I'm just curious why you think we wouldn't have that type of problem?
I think the last big earthquake to hit Jamaica was in 1907. The earthquake in
1993 was moderate was about 5.3 in magnitude. A big earthquake over 7.0
did cripple and sink parts of Port Royal along with the tsunami it caused.

I think our buildings are much stronger...our infrastructure better...our people - governments i.e. local and central - better prepared to deal with the aftermath...and past experience (e.g. hurricanes and even localized disruptions) shows we are quick to make good decisions and act in sensible & heroic fashion (examples, after hurricanes, floods, fires, etc.)

...good example, our ladies in New Orleans quickly acting on the setting up and running a 'cook out' and speading calm in their immediate surrounding as was needed.

We just have a way of doing the 'right thing'...a propensity for doing the right things... in the aftermath of disaster.

...and yes, we do have those among us who would move deliberately to prey on the victims and in other ways take advantage of such a situation...but as a people we, in such circumstances, will 'move right'.

[Karl]

5.5

Thanks!
...and I think it caused just about no damage! Granted a 7+ is a far different proposition...but I am convinced we would fare much better.

...now a tsunami racing up into Portmore and Kingston would be an all different matter!

[Hortical]

The steel in the blocks mek a big difference. Haiti apparently dont use a lot of steel.

Jamaica has survived completely intact with at least 5 5 point EQs in my lifetime. Most I ever heard about were minor cracks.

The force of a 7.0 is equivalent to 32,000,000 tons of TNT, and it is 21 times much more powerful than a 5.0 earthquake, which is equivalent to 150,000 tons of TNT. Buildings that do not incorporate seismic codes would be severely damaged.

[Karl]

Think I read somewhere something similar to what you are thinking...
i.e. That a quake relieves the pressure along the fault line...and it takes sometime for it to build up once more.

...but I certainly cannot give an answer.

[Islandman]

I think the loss of life would be a LOT less.

Even a minor storm in Haiti causes hundreds of casualties.

[Willi]

I was in a 5.5 eq in Kgn with no real damage.

I know that each point reps a 10 times increase in intensity.

Damage would be horrific, I agree, but loss of life I expect to be mush less proportionally.

As for Yele:

Records show tenuous past of Jean's foundation



Wyclef Jean Charity's Funny Money
Haiti earthquake aid pours into group that has enriched singer
JANUARY 14--The Haiti earthquake has already triggered hundreds of thousands of donations to musician Wyclef Jean's charitable foundation, which expects to raise upwards of $1 million a day in the disaster's wake. However, Internal Revenue Service records show the group has a lackluster history of accounting for its finances, and that the organization has paid the performer and his business partner at least $410,000 for rent, production services, and Jean's appearance at a benefit concert. Though the Wyclef Jean Foundation, which does business as Yele Haiti Foundation, was incorporated 12 years ago--and has been active since that time--the group only first filed tax returns in August 2009. That month, the foundation provided the IRS with returns covering calendar years 2005, 2006, and 2007--the only periods for which it has publicly provided a glimpse at its financial affairs. In 2006, Jean's charity reported contributions of $1 million, the bulk of which came from People magazine in exchange for the first photos of a pregnant Angelina Jolie (the actress reportedly directed that the publication's payment go to Jean's charity, not her personally). As seen on the following pages from the foundation's 2006 tax return, the group paid $31,200 in rent to Platinum Sound, a Manhattan recording studio owned by Jean and Jerry Duplessis, who, like Jean, is a foundation board member. A $31,200 rent payment was also made in 2007 to Platinum Sound. The rent, tax returns assure, "is priced below market value." The recording studio also was paid $100,000 in 2006 for the "musical performance services of Wyclef Jean at a benefit concert." That six-figure payout, the tax return noted, "was substantially less than market value." The return, of course, does not address why Jean needed to be paid to perform at his own charity's fundraiser. But the largest 2006 payout--a whopping $250,000--went to Telemax, S.A., a for-profit Haiti company in which Jean and Duplessis were said to "own a controlling interest." The money covered "pre-purchased...TV airtime and production services" that were part of the foundation's "outreach efforts" in Haiti. No further description of these services was offered, though the return claimed that "the fees paid are below market" and that the use of Telemax was the "most efficient way of providing these services." The group's tax returns also report "consultant" payments totaling $300,000 between 2005-2007, while the 2006 return reported nearly $225,000 in "promotion and PR" costs. These expenses are not itemized further in the IRS returns. (6 pages)

Join TSG's mailing list.

[Bricktop]

Less yes, but considerable loss of life would take place. Our CMU construction which repels hurricanes does not do the same to earthquakes.

Eastern Jamaica represents extremely steep and rugged topography with the crest of the Blue Mountain Range reaching 2254 m within about 10 km of the coast. Landscape in eastern Jamaica is geologically young (Quaternary). It is seismically most active part of the island and appears to be undergoing neotectonic uplift. Watersheds are relatively small and steep. Rivers flow through steep canyons onto alluvial/debris fans before emptying into the Caribbean Sea. With the exception of alluvial fans, flat areas are rare in the parishes of Portland, St. Thomas, and Upper St. Andrew. Communities have settled on fans and development activities are hindered by a lack of flat land. Landslides are common and are perhaps the most widespread hydrogeologic hazard on human timescale causing land degradation thus affecting land productivity. Bedrock structure strongly influences slope stability . Landslides preferentially occur in locations where the direction of dip of bedding in the shale and sandstone sequence daylights in slope faces. Landslides occurred both in the landscape modified for human use as well as on slopes under dense forest cover.

[Willi]

Agreed.

[Don1]

I was in a 5.5 eq in Kgn with no real damage.

I know that each point reps a 10 times increase in intensity.

Damage would be horrific, I agree, but loss of life I expect to be mush less proportionally.

As for Yele:

Records show tenuous past of Jean's foundation



Wyclef Jean Charity's Funny Money
Haiti earthquake aid pours into group that has enriched singer
JANUARY 14--The Haiti earthquake has already triggered hundreds of thousands of donations to musician Wyclef Jean's charitable foundation, which expects to raise upwards of $1 million a day in the disaster's wake. However, Internal Revenue Service records show the group has a lackluster history of accounting for its finances, and that the organization has paid the performer and his business partner at least $410,000 for rent, production services, and Jean's appearance at a benefit concert. Though the Wyclef Jean Foundation, which does business as Yele Haiti Foundation, was incorporated 12 years ago--and has been active since that time--the group only first filed tax returns in August 2009. That month, the foundation provided the IRS with returns covering calendar years 2005, 2006, and 2007--the only periods for which it has publicly provided a glimpse at its financial affairs. In 2006, Jean's charity reported contributions of $1 million, the bulk of which came from People magazine in exchange for the first photos of a pregnant Angelina Jolie (the actress reportedly directed that the publication's payment go to Jean's charity, not her personally). As seen on the following pages from the foundation's 2006 tax return, the group paid $31,200 in rent to Platinum Sound, a Manhattan recording studio owned by Jean and Jerry Duplessis, who, like Jean, is a foundation board member. A $31,200 rent payment was also made in 2007 to Platinum Sound. The rent, tax returns assure, "is priced below market value." The recording studio also was paid $100,000 in 2006 for the "musical performance services of Wyclef Jean at a benefit concert." That six-figure payout, the tax return noted, "was substantially less than market value." The return, of course, does not address why Jean needed to be paid to perform at his own charity's fundraiser. But the largest 2006 payout--a whopping $250,000--went to Telemax, S.A., a for-profit Haiti company in which Jean and Duplessis were said to "own a controlling interest." The money covered "pre-purchased...TV airtime and production services" that were part of the foundation's "outreach efforts" in Haiti. No further description of these services was offered, though the return claimed that "the fees paid are below market" and that the use of Telemax was the "most efficient way of providing these services." The group's tax returns also report "consultant" payments totaling $300,000 between 2005-2007, while the 2006 return reported nearly $225,000 in "promotion and PR" costs. These expenses are not itemized further in the IRS returns. (6 pages)

Join TSG's mailing list.

very disappointing...but not particularly surprising.

would love to see a specific point by point response from Wyclef's camp...

[Mosiah]

thanks!

[Mosiah]

I beg to differ. reinforced concrete blocks perform creditably in earthquakes. at least, that is what i have been led to believe.

when you talk about seismic engineering, i guess you refer to damping techniques, from rolling foundations to pendulums, etc. but is that really practical in housing construction?