January's Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 earthquake. (Find out more about Haiti and view a pre-earthquake slideshow of images at ProQuest.)
The earthquake's epicenter was a mere 16 miles west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. The earthquake occurred on Tuesday, January 12. By January 24, at least 52 aftershocks measuring 4.5 or greater, had been recorded. An estimated three million people were affected by the quake, with more than 230,000 people identified by the Haitian government as dead, an estimated 300,000 injured, and an estimated 1,000,000 homeless. They also estimated that 250,000 residences and 30,000 commercial buildings had collapsed, or were damaged severely.
Many countries responded to appeals for humanitarian aid, pledging funds and dispatching rescue and medical teams, engineers and support personnel. Infrastructure, including communication systems, electrical networks, hospitals, and air, land, and sea transport facilities, were significantly damaged by the earthquake. This damage hampered rescue and aid efforts, caused confusion over who was in charge, congested air traffic, and further complicated early relief work.
Port-au-Prince's morgues were quickly overwhelmed; tens of thousands of bodies were buried in mass graves. As rescues tailed off, supplies, medical care and sanitation became priorities. On January 22, the United Nations noted that the emergency phase of the relief operation was drawing to a close, and on the following day the Haitian government officially called off the search for survivors.
President Obama announced that former presidents Bill Clinton (who also acts as the UN special envoy to Haiti) and George W. Bush would coordinate efforts to raise funds for Haiti's recovery. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Haiti on January 16 to survey the damage and stated that $48 million had been raised already in the U.S. to help Haiti recover. Following the meeting with Secretary Clinton, Haiti's President Preval stated that the highest priorities in Haiti's recovery were establishing a working government, clearing roads, and ensuring the streets were cleared of bodies to improve sanitary conditions.
BookCart Learning Activity
BookCart learning activities (quick start guide PDF and short video introduction) are a one-stop solution for teachers and students in conducting 21st Century inquiry-based learning activities. Great editor-selected resources + essential questions for critical thinking + student directions ensure that no time is wasted and students have everything they need to maximize learning.
We've created a BookCart learning activity for students: "Plate Tectonics and Earthquakes."
It's one of 100+ eLibrary Science model BookCarts that teachers and librarians can copy into their local collection and use right away. This is the procedure for copying these free lessons to your school's collection inside your subscription:
Click the BOOKCART ADMIN tab at the top of the Teacher Edition.
Click the PROQUEST CARTS tab.
Type "Plate Tectonics and Earthquakes" in the SEARCH box.
Click the COPY icon (middle one) in the ACTIONS column to the right of this title.
Click RETURN TO MY LOCAL CARTS.
Librarians or teachers can edit this BookCart to customize it for their students. To edit this BookCart:
Click the new BookCart TITLE with the prefix "COPY OF".
Delete "Copy of" and then type your name in the AUTHOR boxes and your initials in the EMAIL box (required info).
Option: Edit any ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS for your students in the DESCRIPTION box.
Option: Edit the existing STUDENT DIRECTIONS in the Description box.
Scroll down and click SAVE.
Click RETURN TO MY LOCAL CARTS.
Plate Tectonics and Earthquakes is one of 27 CourseCarts (Excel listing) available for teachers and librarians to copy to supplement Earth & Space Science textbooks and courses of study.
Traditional Search Learning Activity
Assign students to write a report of at least 150 words or a presentation of at least seven slides. Student should cite at least three resources and address the following essential questions for critical thinking (you can add or substitute others):
Why do earthquakes occur?
How can technology be used to predict earthquakes?
What are some the possible strategies that can be used to prevent or reduce earthquake magnitude?
How can architectural engineering help to alleviate or prevent severe damage from earthquakes?
Pathfinder
Click the Topics tab > Earth Sciences > Earthquakes
Alternative Pathfinder
Type "Earthquake cause and prediction" in the Search box
Use our custom ProQuest models for written and PowerPoint-style reports.
