Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
structures built in the previous four decades in Chile were wood frame or reinforced
masonry, and survived the shaking with little or no damage. In both countries, it was
the adobe buildings that experienced signifi cant damage and their collapse caused
most of the injuries and fatalities (Kovacs
2010
). Lack of insurance coverage pre-
sented another unsafe condition in Haiti. Of the estimated US$8.1 billion in eco-
nomic losses, only $150 million were insured (Munich
2010
). The Government of
Haiti did hold an insurance policy with the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance
Facility (CCRIF), but only received a payout of $7.75 million due to its low cover-
age (Young
2010
). In contrast, over a quarter of the economic losses in Chile,
approximately US$8 billion, were insured due to the high levels of insurance pene-
tration in the utilities, commercial and industrial sectors (Munich
2010
). That being
said, while 95 % of households with mortgages in Chile were required to carry
seismic insurance, few without a mortgage did, and there was no cover available for
adobe buildings which made up the majority residential losses (Moehle et al.
2010
).
Unsafe conditions include not only those that put life or property at risk. They
also include conditions that prevent people from reconstructing their livelihoods
following disaster (Wisner et al.
2004
). For example, the half million people living
in the Port-au-Prince slum of Cité Soleil were known to be particularly vulnerable
prior to the earthquake due to a number of dynamic pressures. Social order was
particularly fragile due to years of rule by rival gangs. Moreover, an estimated 44 %
of all of the children living in Cité Soleil were restavèks, removed from the protec-
tion of their families (Pierre et al.
2009
). While reportedly few of the slums, cinder-
block and corrugated steel shacks collapsed during the earthquake (Marlowe
2010
),
this social group would have found it particularly diffi cult to (re)construct its liveli-
hood after the earthquake, and as a result will be more vulnerable to subsequent
hazard events. The tendency for sequential hazard events to cause an increase in a
system's vulnerability was evident in Haiti's slow recovery from four tropical
cyclones
5
that hit within the span of 30 days 2 years prior to the earthquake. These
storms contributed to a series of unsafe conditions at the time of the earthquake,
including social upheaval from the 793 dead, 310 missing, and 151,000 displaced;
economic turmoil from estimated damages in excess of US$1 billion (5 % of GDP);
and widespread malnutrition due to the spoil of 70 % of the nation's crops (Masters
2008
; USAID
2008
).
The PAR framework highlights the need to think structurally about human vul-
nerability to natural hazards. It demonstrates that local vulnerability can have its
roots in macro-scale forces and historical factors. However, from an evolutionary
perspective, a complete understanding of vulnerability must also give weight to
agents' abilities to both shape different vulnerability trajectories within current
structural environments and to alter structural environments through political pro-
cesses, social movements, etc. As explained by Gertler (
2010
) “[…] locally-
distinctive and evolving, multi-scalar institutional architectures interact with the
agency of individuals and organizations to help create particular evolutionary trajec-
tories over time […].”
5
Tropical Storm Fay, Hurricane Gustav, Hurricane Hanna and Hurricane Ike.
Search WWH ::
Custom Search