This page is referenced by:

• 1 media/foto_0000000220201106170334.jpeg media/foto_0000000220201106170334.jpeg media/foto_0000000220201106170334.jpeg 2022-03-07T21:52:40-08:00 The Role of Government in Disaster Response and Recovery 11 plain 2022-03-16T20:11:31-07:00

  Both Haiti and Chile have a history of having a major scale earthquake, and until now there will always be a potential for the next earthquake that would hit both countries anytime. To reduce the casualties, the involvement of the government is very important. Many experts and scientists compare how both countries react and handle the earthquake. The Chilean earthquake that happened in 2010 was 900 stronger than the 2010 Haiti earthquake, however, the casualties were pretty low compared to Haiti. Although the epicenter of the Chilean earthquake was miles from civilization, the Chilean government still can manage the earthquake and reduced the casualties to only 525 people. One of the reasons why Chile seems prepared is because they are learning from their mistakes and making sure they won’t do the same mistakes all over again. After the 1960 earthquake that killed thousands of Chileans, the government focused on big infrastructure changes to the building. In the article by “reliefweb” website, the author Dimple Vijaykumar explains that after the 1960 earthquake, the Chilean government developed the strict anti-seismic building code. Because earthquakes do not damage if there is nothing to damage, the government applied the strict anti-seismic building code to prevent or at least reduce the chances of buildings being destroyed during the earthquake (Vijaykumar). After the 2010 earthquake, the Chilean government tweaked and updated the building code so it can withstand a seismic wave during a tsunami.
  
  Other than that, one of the important aspects that a country should focus on to prevent any further casualties during a natural disaster is a great communication system. The Chilean director of the Internal Displacement monitoring center named Alfredo Zamudio recalled one of the mistakes that caused death after the tsunami was the late communication and information by the official, so the people won’t have enough time to evacuate. After the earthquake, the Chilean government invested more in devices that can help to detect earthquakes and tsunamis better and more accurately. Not only on technology, but the Chilean government also focuses on implementing a cultural preparedness program so the Chilean people will be familiar with all the earthquake procedures, and if the event happens the people will be ready. From students and also professionals, an earthquake drill is implemented in the institution. The Chilean government also focused on developing a disaster risk reduction program so they can assess any disaster-related matter as soon as possible so it will reduce any unwanted casualties.

  On the other hand, the role of the Haitian government on disaster response and recovery seems not as excellent as Chile's. One of the things that we can highlight from the past Haitian earthquake is how poorly the government created the law and amendment related to the natural disaster precaution. According to the NPR website, it says that there’s no national building code in Haiti, that’s the reason why during the 2010 Haiti earthquake, there’s no building that survived the quake, even the presidential residence which is well known as the “National Palace” collapsed during the earthquake. Before the earthquake happened, the Haitian government didn't invest in human resources that focuses on the earthquake matter. For example, Haiti only had one earthquake engineer in that period. Pierre Fouche is the only earthquake engineer that Haiti had at that time. He voiced his concern to NPR’s journalist about the lack of intention of the government on the earthquake matter. He explains that people can build whatever they want without any such building code, and it’s devastating and sad at the same time (Fouche). Not only the earthquake engineer, but the quality of the construction that Haiti has is also very poor, one of the factors that contributed to this issue is the lack of well-trained human resources to handle this matter.
  
  The building foundation is very fragile. CNN highlighted the issues that most Haitian buildings have. The building was built without a proper foundation, it also used improper building techniques and practices. Not only that, a lack of attention and control during the development phase is a pretty crucial mistake. In the CNN article, the US director of the Department of Sustainable Development named Cletus Springer says that with this structure and improper foundation, Haitian buildings won’t even withstand a 2 Mw earthquake (Springer). So, what the Haitian government could do to minimize the casualties from the future earthquake is by implementing a strict building code that can withstand a certain amount of seismic waves. Other than that, the government could focus on educating and spreading awareness of the basic earthquake emergency procedures. Other than the poor building code, the lack of education on earthquake preparedness has become one of the reasons why the casualties are so high compared to earthquakes in other countries. People seem panicking, and when people start panic is hard to control them, with proper education and preparedness, Haitian can respond better and at least increase the chance of surviving the earthquake.