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@@MrComfyAustralia this is Simon's career, along with the career of a lot of people that help him with the videos, why do you expect anyone to not try to make money when it's their career? Do you have the same expectations for the news broadcasters who do the same thing?
So where was Great Britain in all of this??? You criticize the US, the UN, France, donors, but no mention of your wonderful country, blame free I suppose?
My best friend lived through this, she was 13 or 14 at the time of the earthquake. The only time she has ever brought it up (because I make a point not to), she confided in me that she still has nightmares about the things that she saw and experienced in the aftermath. I cannot begin to understand what her family went through, but they did all survive, thankfully.
I was boots on the ground within the first ten days. Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw. Medical emergencies were everywhere, the dead and buried all around. It was unreal. After three months I was rotated back home. You don’t forget what utter destruction looks like, or the people who need so much help, but it’s just not fast enough. It was hell on earth.
@@krymera666x7 not really "funny" per se'.. we are after all talking about a country where theres is no power on a regular basis because various rebel groups take over power stations and hold the power ransom.
@@yjwrangler7819 Who is stopping you from watching the whole thing? I just see time stamps for those viewers interested. This happens on several channels.
It was very hard watching this. I lived through it and saw the devastation first hand. It felt like the end of the world for 10 days before my parents found a way to send me back to the USA through DR (I was home in Haiti for the holidays after my 1st semester in college). Thank you for touching this subject with such respect.
@@MajesticalHonky my parents are thankfully now with us (my siblings and I) in the states as of 2 years ago. But, nevertheless, I still have my whole extended family and many friends there still. All saying the same thing: Haiti is unliveable. I did try my best to try and live there after graduating with my doctorate, but it was simply impossible with the sociopolitical climate. We had so much hope for Ayiti's future after all the international help that we thought would help us get through this. But nothing came of it. And now, I haven't been back to my country in over 4 years because things are so bad and only seem to get worse. I don't want to paint a bad picture of my country that I love. It really breaks my heart to think of of all this...
I am so sorry for what your parents and you went thru, it is unimaginable sometimes the best we can do is do better for our own lives even if we cant do the same for our home countries
I had a family member pass away in Haiti during the quake. He was in his hotel when the building collapsed on him. He went with a group that were there on a humanitarian type of trip to help the people of Haiti. I think quite a few people in his group were killed when the hotel fell... The quake caused so much devastation. Incredibly sad.
I think another big issue was that in March 2011 the tsunami in Japan diverted a lot of international attention. Haiti was already old news. And, unlike Haiti, there *was* a lot of footage and pictures coming out from Japan immediately.
I think it was Fukushima-Daichi melting down that made Haiti old news. The world was holding its breath due to fear of radiation. The Tohoku earthquake of 2011, made me stop eating seafood.✌️😺
Yes, I must agree. The Fukushima earthquake, tidal wave, and reactor meltdown would have swept Haiti into the distant past of our collective memory. I hope someone reading this thread can do something to re-spark the aid. As for me, I have no idea how to do that. Ideas?
I was there, this is the first time I’ve really heard this recounted in depth with perspective. He’s almost underselling how bad it was. I went to war in some pretty sporty areas, but I watched more death and suffering in any random week during that 60-day deployment than all my other deployments combined. The description of the capital being leveled like Independence Day is spot on, and the first few weeks I was there, the night in the city was unreal- the only light cutting through the wall of darkness was smoldering rubble. I worked in the University Hospital by the capital and the amount of death in the beginning was really was biblical, made worse by the rotting flesh of dead nurses baking in the tropical heat across the street. Every week, a new batch of NGOs would arrive and by the time they rotated out, they were completely ground down by what little they were accomplishing, it was a cyclical metamorphosis from hopeful/righteously indignant about the Haitian plight to overwhelmed to defeated and cynical- a process that only took a week. There was no escaping the suffering because we lived in the hospital, cries of agony in the morning- cries of agony before bed. I could go on, but I had largely put this out of mind until today and I’m glad he didn’t sugar coat the effectiveness of the response effort.
Haiti is a nation of very proud people. I have traveled there 7 times. My parish is twinned with that of St. Marguerite. The first mass I attended there was a violent downpour. The ceiling of the church was full of holes and the water poured in everywhere.
What do they have to be proud of? They live in a shithole with a government that is so corrupt and care about nothing other than their own bank accounts.
I had a former coworker whose family was from that area in Haiti. She still had family that lived there when the earthquake struck. It took her weeks to get in touch with them. Thankfully her family was safe but she knew others who weren’t so lucky. Very sad.
Over the 30 years or so I've been old enough to be aware of world events on some level, one pattern I've noticed when it comes to natural disasters is that the deadliest and most destructive ones are earthquakes. Especially megathrust earthquakes like this Haiti one, the one which caused the 2003 Indonesian Tsunami, the one which caused the 2011 Sendai earthquake that led to Fukushima and the tsunamis there. And as I'm sure has been mentioned in this video, there is a fault line called the Cascadia Range off the coast of Vancouver, BC, and running along the coast next to Washington State. It hasn't had a major earthquake yet, but it's one of those things where it's a matter of WHEN it'll happen, not IF. And when it does, since it would be a megathrust earthquake it would likely be in the neighbourhood of a 7.0 or 8.0 on the richter scale. Keeping in mind the scale is logarithmic so an 8.0 magnitude earthquake is 33 times more powerful than a 7.0. And a 9.0, is 1,097 times more powerful than a 7.0 (33 x 33). And for the curious, that's the case all through the scale. A 2.0 is 33 times stronger than a 1.0. A 3.0 is 33 x 33 times more powerful than a 1.0. A 4.0 is 33 x 33 x 33 times more powerful. By the time you get up to a 5.0 magnitude, it's 1,185,921 times more powerful than a 1.0. And a 9.0 by comparison to a 1.0 would be 1,406,408,618,241 times more powerful because I know someone will want to know.
I worry about the one on the northwest of the US too, I am in california and there is always small tremors here and there but a big one even a 5 would cause major damage. aside from trying not to live in fear I make sure we have emergency supplies and go to bags in case we need to leave our home.
Simon did a great video on the cascadia quake. It is honestly something that comes to my mind more often than I’d like. I will never move to the coast like I have always wanted because of the impending cascadia quake. It’s not an IF, it’s a WHEN. I feel not enough people know about it either
@@0Gematria0 Heh yeah it actually keeps coming up in my recommendations now after watching this one. I think I may have actually seen it when he first made it. But apparently I've seen so many of his videos I just plum forgot. I can't count how many times I'll be watching a video, not necessarily one of Simon's but just any video in general, and I go to comment on it only to find that I've already posted the exact same comment on the video like 5 years ago. And here I don't even remember that I saw the thing lol. But hey, at least I've got all this "new" content to re-enjoy.
You've got the Richter scale completely wrong there. A magnitude 8 is 10x more powerful than a 7, not 33x. Not even sure where you plucked the number 33 from. Also, it was not a megathrust earthquake as that is literally impossible to happen on a fault line, as it requires the subduction of one tectonic plate underneath the other. Not really sure why you've made a bunch of stuff up for your comment.
It's not that wood is less deadly if it collapses on top of you. It's that it's flexible, able to move with the shaking, and is much more likely not to collapse at all. It might not be habitable afterwards and need rebuilding, but the entire thing isn't going to collapse on top of you. On the other hand, a solid brick wall might feel like the epitome of strength, but when the ground underneath it shakes, it simply crumbles. That's why here in California we don't build with unreinforced masonry, and older masonry buildings that have somehow managed to survive need extensive retrofitting if they're to survive much longer.
I was in 8th grade when this happened. My science teacher spent a good amount of time explaining tectonics, other historical severe earthquakes, and why Haiti was so devastated by this one. Opened my eyes to a lot of things
This is why many nations have strict building codes in disaster prone areas. A few months later S. America experienced a quake 500 times stronger, but only a few dozen died.
Yes, but Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world, perhaps even the poorest. It's not fair to compare them to Chile, the richest country in South America.
The buildings just pancaked or blew out. We still had to be very careful as they would randomly move. Scared to stand near anything. Then it was the aftershocks.
@@marktg98 If your country is that poor, then you don't build multi storied buildings in earthquake zones. " Hey, we live in an earthquake zone so, here's the plan. We're going to build multi story buildings with absolutely no earthquake protection at all, hell we're not even going to use any steel." They would have been better building tree houses.
@@marktg98 Dirt-poor or not, that doesn't change the fact that Hatian buildings are shoddily built. Chile is a perfectly fair comparison in this context; their stronger earthquake had a lower death toll because their buildings are well-built.
I remember working for Western Union during this, they amongst others had a facility set up so people could donate to the Haiti relief program. The amount of customers calling up to donate, and the fact that most of the calls each day were for that purpose, warmed my heart
If you look at satellite images of the island of Hispaniola the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic stands out. The Dominican side is green and lush. The Haitian side is raw earth. When the inevitable hurricanes hit the island the deluge is largely absorbed by the forests in the east. A handful of vulnerable Dominican structures, all built with the expectation of storms, are damaged and restored in a few months. In Haiti the hillsides have been denuded of all trees and large bushes because they are the only source of energy for cooking and heating, so flash floods of mud rip through the country, removing whatever skin of topsoil remains from two centuries of previous hurricanes, and sweeping away whatever structures lie in their path. The ability of the land to feed the population goes down. Despite the massive loss of life from these catastrophes the population of Haiti continues to grow. "Today, there are 339 inhabitants per square kilometer, and the United Nations medium fertility scenario forecasts further growth of nearly fifty percent by 2040." The most effective form of "birth control" is education, particularly of women. With unreliable electricity and few sources of employment millions of people have too much unproductive time on their hands and the most popular form of entertainment is sex. Matthew 5:45 "... he makes his sun rise on both evil and good people, and he lets rain fall on the righteous and the unrighteous."
Strong and widespread education and job opportunities for women is by far the most important and effective method for strengthening and stabilizing a nation in both an economic and social sense. Birthrate dramatically reduce, workforce gains a ton of skilled labor, being especially helpful in medical and commercial fields. More people really need to understand this and act on it if they want nations like Haiti to be lifted out of poverty and propelled towards a more modern quality of life for their people.
Haiti is overpopulated and earthquakes are an geological event that can reduce overpopulation in the short and long term . Short term by the immediate deaths, medium term by those who die from injuries and disease, and long term by putting the survivors in a state of privation and conditions which inhibit recreational sex. Its heartless, but that is mother nature. Haiti has a big population but not very productive, and dont have the ability, due to IQ? Or other reasons, to improve without outside help. And any other country does. NOt have the obligation, because all countries have their own debts and problems . Whatever money they could spare is actually their own taxpayers money, who are not consulted as to how it is spent. I know I'd rather have lower taxes than have my taxes spent on a foreign country which is economically irrelevant
@@decimated550 Masterclass on heartlessness and bigotry 101 while somehow simultaneously showcasing a complete lack of understand of geopolitics, global economics, and even population ecology. I'm honestly impressed. It's like the shitty version of being a polymath. A polymoron?
I was deployed to Haiti in April of 2010…. I landed in port-au-prince…. It was truly humbling and mind boggling at the destruction. Even more incredible was the people’s hope.
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I hate to be this person but in the Caribbean, when something happens to Haiti, no one is ever really surprised anymore. Ever since the Haitian Revolution, its just been all downhill from there and the country can never catch a break! Mass, unbridled poverty and hunger; natural disasters that constantly devastates the country, dictatorship under Papa Doc, coups and political assassinations up to very recently. Damn, Haiti definitely needs a break.
I hate to be this person too but this is one country that deserves to be occupied and ran by foreigners, from honest countries like Canada of course. For as long as Haitians run Haiti, the country will never catch a break.
This happened on my birthday and damn, I remember that day like it was yesterday. Crushed my spirits then, and still makes me sad when I remember it now.
Don't forget about the 2010 song, We Are The World: 25 for Haiti. That must have help with earthquake relief. All those talented/giving celebrities performing a song one time in a recording studio.
that song, like the earthquake, was also a disaster the low budget sequel of the 80s version, it was worse in every single way, even in terms of the calibre of the stars: the biggest name they could get was Bieber, no one of even comparable star power was there
@@louschwick7301 Yeah, the 80s version was after the Grammy awards so all the stars just went to the studio instead of the after parties. The 2010 version seemed like they just did a 50 mile radius call around the studio and got who ever didn't have anything to do
Once again, GREED is the worst enemy of humanity. Every corrupt official and organization has blood on its hands. Haiti could have been rebuilt 10 times over had everyone helped like they were supposed to. But no. Of course not.
Haiti is just one of the reasons why I don't donate through the red cross or any of those big televised events or literally anything through the US government anymore. Instead I'll try and find smaller places to give some money to. Less chance of 95% of it going to a bureaucrats or CEO's pockets. Or like in Haiti, partly into Bill and Hillary Clinton and their family and friend's pockets. I get that *some* money has to go to employee upkeep, etc, but not 90% of a donation. That's just ridiculous.
@@donovanporter4545 nothing to really mention... Haiti was a shit hole before the quake and is a shit hole after the quake... 🤷 Why hasn't their government fixed it yet?
Honestly mad respect to them A comrade who suffered oppression from the French, rose up, persevered through American occupations and poverty I just hope they can have an economic miracle similar to ours
I admit that although I watch every one of your videos, this is the first one where I had tears in my eyes. A huge tragedy. Thank you for sharing this very informative piece.
I worked with a Haitian charity. At the time. They had an unwritten non interference mandate. So the real help stayed here. Just like Simon noted. I quit.
Great video Simon “Nomis”, have you done one on the Christchurch quake? I was the in 2016 and it wasn’t rebuilt and I heard the called it the container city as there was many containers with shops, cafes and bars within containers stacked in the CBD. Keep up the good work fella 👍
@@cashewnuttel9054 same reason why other beautiful countries are poor. Selfish greedy rich people. Haiti has a lot of money but rich politicians are stealing the money
@@Thatbul Nah. Not all rich folks became rich by stealing from the poor, and not all poor people became poor because they were thieved off of. Oh and this is coming from someone who isn't rich.
A silent fault line isnt a good thing, it is a dangerous one. As far as I am aware, earthquakes are a release of pressure - tectonic plates push against each other until something snaps, for lack of a better term. So the longer a fault like is quiet, the more worried I'd be about the quake.
Add to that the Younger Dryas. One of the most fascinating climate diversions in recent geologic history. Surmised that the meltwater of the Laurentide switched the Gulf Stream / AMOC into the slow or “off” state, something it’s possible the earth will see happen again even in the near future.
Members of my church went to Haiti after the earthquake. They befriended a young girl of about 12. Her head was shaved, and she went out of her way to pretend she was a boy. She told them that rapes of girls her age by roving bends of thugs were an everyday occurrence .
This is just sad, especially those so poor, and destitute that they can't get out of poverty. I don't think any of us can imagine but, when you look in the wood lines and overpasses you can see it the number of tents where human souls like us are living. It really is sad.
I still remember when Reverend Pat Robertson said the earthquake and the mass casualties were caused by the Haitians after making a pact with the Devil to free them from slavery by the French.
I was in early elementary school when this happened, and I didn’t understand why my dad had to leave for two weeks. Now I know it’s because he went to Haiti to help rebuild
Says what really? Google is a business, and just as if you had a restaurant in the US, you might have menus in Spanish, or Korean/Chinese if many speakers in your area, but you aren’t going to have menus in Catalonia, Urdu, Tagalog, Cherokee, Romanian and all the hundreds of other languages worldwide. That doesn’t make you evil or oppressive….it is a business decision. Businesses aren’t there to provide things to people…they are there to make money.
The Haiti earthquake was horrendous. a friend of mine who is a Salvation Army officer helped with the clean up and helping the displaced people in refugee camps.
After it happened I was living in the streets with my family for months without barely any food and water .. I was 7 years old . I remember like it was yesterday
I remember when that NPR article came out. Absolutely devastating to read how poorly the Red Cross behaved and I've never donated to any large charity since. I look for local groups who are near the people who need the help. I have been donating to directly to individual Ukraine residents through Air B&B since March. This way I know I'm helping actual citizens and not padding the pockets of politicians, celebrities, organization CEOs, etc.
What earthquake are you talking about? Chile had the biggest earthquake in recorded history in 1960, the 9.5 Valdivia Earthquake. Approximately 7,000 people were killed in Chile.
I’m glad that you delved into the appalling failure that was the humanitarian relief effort for Haiti. I first read about it years ago. The Red Cross in particular has a lot to answer for, to this day I refuse to donate to them because of their response to Haiti.
Everything that happened with the money that was supposed to go to Haiti that exact same thing is happening now with the money that's supposed to be going to help Ukraine
I went online and found photos of corpses of victims. They were crushed contorted, severely burned. Some people were even dismembered it’s horrible how the bodies were piled up like leaves decaying in the streets half naked.
This is the only video you've done that's actually made me cry. We failed the people of Haiti, we being the world. The fact no one saw prison time for all the missing money is just as bad.
They should have started with an up to date sewer system with treatment stations, building from the ground up. This was a failure of humanity fueled by greed.
Haiti and Haitian corruption is responsible for Haiti's problems, not America. Is the UK responsible for everything that happens in their former colonies?
@@richardgreen7225 Shouldn't have any baring today. That's just something people say to justify why a country is poor. Sad truth is, some people just cannot rule themselves.
America played a big part. I got family and friends of my family that played in both sides of bad thing that happend in Haiti. Most of the corrupt people in haiti past and corrupt police officers, war leaders are former guys that worked with the FBI and CIA, some were even in the U.S army. America gave guns to some of these guys so they can start shit and start coups
Me sitting here About halfway through the video wondering if he's going to mention the Clinton foundation, and how they got rich from this crisis and didn't do anything for Haiti.
Love your videos, but I disagree that the 'world' is responsible to rebuild their country. A nation that doesn't learn, is irresponsible and is corrupt does not deserve this.
Amen. The corrupt government of Haiti is responsible, not " the world.". If other countries stepped in and ended the corrupt government, then this video would have been about the evils of imperialism. Is Haiti a nation or a charity case?
After the 2008 hurricanes and 2010 earthquake, one can’t help but feel absolutely terrible for the people of Haiti. I wish I could wave a magic wand and send them hundreds of billions of dollars in new infrastructure construction.
Don't blame the "richer" neighbours. Haiti is fully responsible for their poverty, and thus their susceptibility to natural disasters. Look at the Dominican Republic with whom they share an island. They are far wealthier. Haiti tolerated corrupt dictators and reap the rewards.
Oh please the same DR that got illegal human trafficking and little boys selling themselves. My mom is Dominican and the only reason why DR is doing better is because they aren’t the First Black nation to get freedom. If it was DR or any other country that was the first, they would’ve been in the same position.
Do you always blame people for the situation that they have no control over? Haitians today are poor because of corruption that has been around for centuries.
There was money there., Maybe not all that was promised. But if charities weren't actually on the ground or working with someone directly on the ground, the money was squandered or stolen by the "authorities." Whoever comes to power just exploits all they can until overthrown, and this cycle is so normal, it doesn't seem people even hope to have a functioning government that works for the people. But they've never gotten to experience it, so its like - in some ways - its hard to know what you are missing. The people and the culture can be so beautiful, but as a nationstate, it has basically failed and continues to exist that way. And its too complex a problem for people to make a simple concise argument that could solve all of their problems if implemented correctly. And its too complex a problem for even kind-hearted people to throw a ton of money towards fixing and assume that will solve it. Unfortunately Simon is correct. It is still the same, or worse. Every hurricane season I prepare myself for that inevitable tragedy, the one that waits in the future, even as others continue on in the present.
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A description of this sad event would be better than just going for dollars every video. just saying... Priorities...
Ukraine $
@@MrComfyAustralia this is Simon's career, along with the career of a lot of people that help him with the videos, why do you expect anyone to not try to make money when it's their career? Do you have the same expectations for the news broadcasters who do the same thing?
@@golferorb you mean along with his other 6 channels? xD
So where was Great Britain in all of this??? You criticize the US, the UN, France, donors, but no mention of your wonderful country, blame free I suppose?
My best friend lived through this, she was 13 or 14 at the time of the earthquake. The only time she has ever brought it up (because I make a point not to), she confided in me that she still has nightmares about the things that she saw and experienced in the aftermath. I cannot begin to understand what her family went through, but they did all survive, thankfully.
I was boots on the ground within the first ten days. Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw. Medical emergencies were everywhere, the dead and buried all around. It was unreal. After three months I was rotated back home.
You don’t forget what utter destruction looks like, or the people who need so much help, but it’s just not fast enough.
It was hell on earth.
nah, that just sounds like haiti every other day of the year.
@@megaflux7144 oh my fuck you’re so funny.
@@krymera666x7 not really "funny" per se'.. we are after all talking about a country where theres is no power on a regular basis because various rebel groups take over power stations and hold the power ransom.
@@megaflux7144even for a country that suffers from corruption and crime, this was a whole other beast and Haitians were overwhelmed
@@megaflux7144
Virgin
My cousin, a nurse, went after the quake for humanitarian relief... she said it was a string of the most horrible things she had ever seen.
3:00 - Chapter 1 - Faultlines
7:15 - Chapter 2 - Chronicles of a disaster foretold
10:05 - Chapter 3 - Day of destruction
13:55 - Chapter 4 - Help
18:00 - Chapter 5 - Aftertshocks
- Chapter 6 -
Why not let us just watch the whole thing?
@@yjwrangler7819 you just love to complain.
Thank you.
@@laurafabianmarrero8614 no argument with that. See? Now you're wrong. lol
@@yjwrangler7819 Who is stopping you from watching the whole thing?
I just see time stamps for those viewers interested. This happens on several channels.
It was very hard watching this. I lived through it and saw the devastation first hand. It felt like the end of the world for 10 days before my parents found a way to send me back to the USA through DR (I was home in Haiti for the holidays after my 1st semester in college). Thank you for touching this subject with such respect.
I hope your parents are okay and that you've been able to find some kind of peace.
@@MajesticalHonky my parents are thankfully now with us (my siblings and I) in the states as of 2 years ago. But, nevertheless, I still have my whole extended family and many friends there still. All saying the same thing: Haiti is unliveable. I did try my best to try and live there after graduating with my doctorate, but it was simply impossible with the sociopolitical climate. We had so much hope for Ayiti's future after all the international help that we thought would help us get through this. But nothing came of it.
And now, I haven't been back to my country in over 4 years because things are so bad and only seem to get worse. I don't want to paint a bad picture of my country that I love. It really breaks my heart to think of of all this...
@@Pamylo14 I'm so sorry. I'm glad your parents are here though.
Pamylo... thank you for sharing your heart 😢😭... compassion needs to live...
I am so sorry for what your parents and you went thru, it is unimaginable sometimes the best we can do is do better for our own lives even if we cant do the same for our home countries
I had a family member pass away in Haiti during the quake. He was in his hotel when the building collapsed on him. He went with a group that were there on a humanitarian type of trip to help the people of Haiti. I think quite a few people in his group were killed when the hotel fell... The quake caused so much devastation. Incredibly sad.
Well if they built better, that kind of destruction wouldn't have happened. Probably isn't no better today.
It is so sad that corruption stops safe houses being built. All that aid pledged.........just like Amber Heard.
I think another big issue was that in March 2011 the tsunami in Japan diverted a lot of international attention. Haiti was already old news. And, unlike Haiti, there *was* a lot of footage and pictures coming out from Japan immediately.
Was that not 2010?
I think it was Fukushima-Daichi melting down that made Haiti old news. The world was holding its breath due to fear of radiation. The Tohoku earthquake of 2011, made me stop eating seafood.✌️😺
Yes, I must agree. The Fukushima earthquake, tidal wave, and reactor meltdown would have swept Haiti into the distant past of our collective memory.
I hope someone reading this thread can do something to re-spark the aid. As for me, I have no idea how to do that. Ideas?
The tsunami in Japan didn’t take focus from Haiti, it took focus from the Clintons, who looted her. Let’s be real
Sadly first world trumps third world all day.
I was there, this is the first time I’ve really heard this recounted in depth with perspective. He’s almost underselling how bad it was. I went to war in some pretty sporty areas, but I watched more death and suffering in any random week during that 60-day deployment than all my other deployments combined. The description of the capital being leveled like Independence Day is spot on, and the first few weeks I was there, the night in the city was unreal- the only light cutting through the wall of darkness was smoldering rubble. I worked in the University Hospital by the capital and the amount of death in the beginning was really was biblical, made worse by the rotting flesh of dead nurses baking in the tropical heat across the street. Every week, a new batch of NGOs would arrive and by the time they rotated out, they were completely ground down by what little they were accomplishing, it was a cyclical metamorphosis from hopeful/righteously indignant about the Haitian plight to overwhelmed to defeated and cynical- a process that only took a week. There was no escaping the suffering because we lived in the hospital, cries of agony in the morning- cries of agony before bed. I could go on, but I had largely put this out of mind until today and I’m glad he didn’t sugar coat the effectiveness of the response effort.
We really did these people pretty dirty.
Haiti is a nation of very proud people. I have traveled there 7 times. My parish is twinned with that of St. Marguerite. The first mass I attended there was a violent downpour. The ceiling of the church was full of holes and the water poured in everywhere.
What do they have to be proud of? They live in a shithole with a government that is so corrupt and care about nothing other than their own bank accounts.
I had a former coworker whose family was from that area in Haiti. She still had family that lived there when the earthquake struck. It took her weeks to get in touch with them. Thankfully her family was safe but she knew others who weren’t so lucky. Very sad.
Over the 30 years or so I've been old enough to be aware of world events on some level, one pattern I've noticed when it comes to natural disasters is that the deadliest and most destructive ones are earthquakes. Especially megathrust earthquakes like this Haiti one, the one which caused the 2003 Indonesian Tsunami, the one which caused the 2011 Sendai earthquake that led to Fukushima and the tsunamis there. And as I'm sure has been mentioned in this video, there is a fault line called the Cascadia Range off the coast of Vancouver, BC, and running along the coast next to Washington State. It hasn't had a major earthquake yet, but it's one of those things where it's a matter of WHEN it'll happen, not IF. And when it does, since it would be a megathrust earthquake it would likely be in the neighbourhood of a 7.0 or 8.0 on the richter scale.
Keeping in mind the scale is logarithmic so an 8.0 magnitude earthquake is 33 times more powerful than a 7.0. And a 9.0, is 1,097 times more powerful than a 7.0 (33 x 33). And for the curious, that's the case all through the scale. A 2.0 is 33 times stronger than a 1.0. A 3.0 is 33 x 33 times more powerful than a 1.0. A 4.0 is 33 x 33 x 33 times more powerful. By the time you get up to a 5.0 magnitude, it's 1,185,921 times more powerful than a 1.0. And a 9.0 by comparison to a 1.0 would be 1,406,408,618,241 times more powerful because I know someone will want to know.
I worry about the one on the northwest of the US too, I am in california and there is always small tremors here and there but a big one even a 5 would cause major damage. aside from trying not to live in fear I make sure we have emergency supplies and go to bags in case we need to leave our home.
Simon did a great video on the cascadia quake.
It is honestly something that comes to my mind more often than I’d like. I will never move to the coast like I have always wanted because of the impending cascadia quake.
It’s not an IF, it’s a WHEN. I feel not enough people know about it either
@@0Gematria0 Heh yeah it actually keeps coming up in my recommendations now after watching this one. I think I may have actually seen it when he first made it. But apparently I've seen so many of his videos I just plum forgot. I can't count how many times I'll be watching a video, not necessarily one of Simon's but just any video in general, and I go to comment on it only to find that I've already posted the exact same comment on the video like 5 years ago. And here I don't even remember that I saw the thing lol. But hey, at least I've got all this "new" content to re-enjoy.
dude like yellow stone its a matter of if, we have lots, and i mean lots of mag 0.4
You've got the Richter scale completely wrong there. A magnitude 8 is 10x more powerful than a 7, not 33x. Not even sure where you plucked the number 33 from.
Also, it was not a megathrust earthquake as that is literally impossible to happen on a fault line, as it requires the subduction of one tectonic plate underneath the other. Not really sure why you've made a bunch of stuff up for your comment.
It's not that wood is less deadly if it collapses on top of you. It's that it's flexible, able to move with the shaking, and is much more likely not to collapse at all. It might not be habitable afterwards and need rebuilding, but the entire thing isn't going to collapse on top of you. On the other hand, a solid brick wall might feel like the epitome of strength, but when the ground underneath it shakes, it simply crumbles. That's why here in California we don't build with unreinforced masonry, and older masonry buildings that have somehow managed to survive need extensive retrofitting if they're to survive much longer.
I was in 8th grade when this happened. My science teacher spent a good amount of time explaining tectonics, other historical severe earthquakes, and why Haiti was so devastated by this one. Opened my eyes to a lot of things
This is why many nations have strict building codes in disaster prone areas. A few months later S. America experienced a quake 500 times stronger, but only a few dozen died.
Yes, but Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world, perhaps even the poorest. It's not fair to compare them to Chile, the richest country in South America.
The buildings just pancaked or blew out.
We still had to be very careful as they would randomly move. Scared to stand near anything. Then it was the aftershocks.
@@marktg98 If your country is that poor, then you don't build multi storied buildings in earthquake zones. " Hey, we live in an earthquake zone so, here's the plan. We're going to build multi story buildings with absolutely no earthquake protection at all, hell we're not even going to use any steel." They would have been better building tree houses.
@@marktg98avoid saying Haiti is the poorest county in the world if you don't know nothing about just shut the fuck up.
@@marktg98 Dirt-poor or not, that doesn't change the fact that Hatian buildings are shoddily built. Chile is a perfectly fair comparison in this context; their stronger earthquake had a lower death toll because their buildings are well-built.
I remember working for Western Union during this, they amongst others had a facility set up so people could donate to the Haiti relief program. The amount of customers calling up to donate, and the fact that most of the calls each day were for that purpose, warmed my heart
I like learning about natural disasters around the world hopefully we get more videos on the subject
If you look at satellite images of the island of Hispaniola the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic stands out. The Dominican side is green and lush. The Haitian side is raw earth. When the inevitable hurricanes hit the island the deluge is largely absorbed by the forests in the east. A handful of vulnerable Dominican structures, all built with the expectation of storms, are damaged and restored in a few months. In Haiti the hillsides have been denuded of all trees and large bushes because they are the only source of energy for cooking and heating, so flash floods of mud rip through the country, removing whatever skin of topsoil remains from two centuries of previous hurricanes, and sweeping away whatever structures lie in their path. The ability of the land to feed the population goes down. Despite the massive loss of life from these catastrophes the population of Haiti continues to grow. "Today, there are 339 inhabitants per square kilometer, and the United Nations medium fertility scenario forecasts further growth of nearly fifty percent by 2040." The most effective form of "birth control" is education, particularly of women. With unreliable electricity and few sources of employment millions of people have too much unproductive time on their hands and the most popular form of entertainment is sex.
Matthew 5:45 "... he makes his sun rise on both evil and good people, and he lets rain fall on the righteous and the unrighteous."
The most effective form of birth control is to actually have it and not the bullshit catholic religion they have which forbids it.
Strong and widespread education and job opportunities for women is by far the most important and effective method for strengthening and stabilizing a nation in both an economic and social sense. Birthrate dramatically reduce, workforce gains a ton of skilled labor, being especially helpful in medical and commercial fields. More people really need to understand this and act on it if they want nations like Haiti to be lifted out of poverty and propelled towards a more modern quality of life for their people.
The forest of Haiti was burned down by France in order to "help" Haiti pay them back the debt of independence.
Haiti is overpopulated and earthquakes are an geological event that can reduce overpopulation in the short and long term . Short term by the immediate deaths, medium term by those who die from injuries and disease, and long term by putting the survivors in a state of privation and conditions which inhibit recreational sex. Its heartless, but that is mother nature. Haiti has a big population but not very productive, and dont have the ability, due to IQ? Or other reasons, to improve without outside help. And any other country does. NOt have the obligation, because all countries have their own debts and problems . Whatever money they could spare is actually their own taxpayers money, who are not consulted as to how it is spent. I know I'd rather have lower taxes than have my taxes spent on a foreign country which is economically irrelevant
@@decimated550 Masterclass on heartlessness and bigotry 101 while somehow simultaneously showcasing a complete lack of understand of geopolitics, global economics, and even population ecology. I'm honestly impressed. It's like the shitty version of being a polymath. A polymoron?
You should do one on the All Saint's Day earthquake in Lisbon. It all but helped bring down Portugal's status as a world power.
I was deployed to Haiti in April of 2010…. I landed in port-au-prince…. It was truly humbling and mind boggling at the destruction. Even more incredible was the people’s hope.
Thanks to Warby Parker for sponsoring this video! Visit warbyparker.com/geographics
to try on 5 pairs of glasses at home for FREE! Home Try-Ons are only offered in the US.
I hate to be this person but in the Caribbean, when something happens to Haiti, no one is ever really surprised anymore. Ever since the Haitian Revolution, its just been all downhill from there and the country can never catch a break! Mass, unbridled poverty and hunger; natural disasters that constantly devastates the country, dictatorship under Papa Doc, coups and political assassinations up to very recently. Damn, Haiti definitely needs a break.
You clearly didn’t read the article the New York Times did on Haiti . It exposed the truth
I hate to be this person too but this is one country that deserves to be occupied and ran by foreigners, from honest countries like Canada of course.
For as long as Haitians run Haiti, the country will never catch a break.
@@cashewnuttel9054 same thing with sub saharan Africa those countries are a mess
I only wish they had gotten one...
This happened on my birthday and damn, I remember that day like it was yesterday. Crushed my spirits then, and still makes me sad when I remember it now.
Don't forget about the 2010 song, We Are The World: 25 for Haiti. That must have help with earthquake relief. All those talented/giving celebrities performing a song one time in a recording studio.
that song, like the earthquake, was also a disaster
the low budget sequel of the 80s version, it was worse in every single way, even in terms of the calibre of the stars: the biggest name they could get was Bieber, no one of even comparable star power was there
@@louschwick7301 Yeah, the 80s version was after the Grammy awards so all the stars just went to the studio instead of the after parties. The 2010 version seemed like they just did a 50 mile radius call around the studio and got who ever didn't have anything to do
Once again, GREED is the worst enemy of humanity. Every corrupt official and organization has blood on its hands. Haiti could have been rebuilt 10 times over had everyone helped like they were supposed to. But no. Of course not.
Haiti is just one of the reasons why I don't donate through the red cross or any of those big televised events or literally anything through the US government anymore. Instead I'll try and find smaller places to give some money to. Less chance of 95% of it going to a bureaucrats or CEO's pockets. Or like in Haiti, partly into Bill and Hillary Clinton and their family and friend's pockets.
I get that *some* money has to go to employee upkeep, etc, but not 90% of a donation. That's just ridiculous.
The really sad and depressing thing about greed is that it's a MAJOR part of human nature.
I'm surprised he didn't mention the Clinton money that these people are still waiting for
@@donovanporter4545 nothing to really mention... Haiti was a shit hole before the quake and is a shit hole after the quake... 🤷 Why hasn't their government fixed it yet?
It's utterly amazing that Haiti is the second oldest republic North America. For over 200 years they've persevered despite everything they've endured.
Is it tho? Who wants Haiti?
@@ozzoldoshadda2993 who wants America when people are being killed weekly
@@jocal2754 literally millions lmao have you seen our southern border nice try buddy
Honestly mad respect to them
A comrade who suffered oppression from the French, rose up, persevered through American occupations and poverty
I just hope they can have an economic miracle similar to ours
@@socialistrepublicofvietnam1500 Black countries aren’t allowed to be rich in this world
I would like to point out right after the earthquake within 3 hours the United States sent over 3,000 personal to help the Haitian survivors in Haiti.
6:17 lol at Simon's vocal emphasis when he says "you'd rather be the little pig who built his house out of STONE!"
I admit that although I watch every one of your videos, this is the first one where I had tears in my eyes. A huge tragedy. Thank you for sharing this very informative piece.
I worked with a Haitian charity. At the time. They had an unwritten non interference mandate. So the real help stayed here. Just like Simon noted. I quit.
Great video Simon “Nomis”, have you done one on the Christchurch quake? I was the in 2016 and it wasn’t rebuilt and I heard the called it the container city as there was many containers with shops, cafes and bars within containers stacked in the CBD.
Keep up the good work fella 👍
Rest In Peace to those that passed away.
I've been to Haiti twice. My biggest takeaway is the people are incredible and the country is beautiful. It really is.
If they are incredible then why are they poor?
@@cashewnuttel9054 same reason why other beautiful countries are poor. Selfish greedy rich people. Haiti has a lot of money but rich politicians are stealing the money
@@Thatbul Nah.
Not all rich folks became rich by stealing from the poor, and not all poor people became poor because they were thieved off of.
Oh and this is coming from someone who isn't rich.
@@cashewnuttel9054 I said rich politicians not regular rich people
@@cashewnuttel9054avoid saying poor are you rich no you a poor person who call other people poor.
A silent fault line isnt a good thing, it is a dangerous one. As far as I am aware, earthquakes are a release of pressure - tectonic plates push against each other until something snaps, for lack of a better term. So the longer a fault like is quiet, the more worried I'd be about the quake.
Topic suggestion(s): lake Bonneville and lake Missoula and their corresponding floods, thank you for all you do fact boy!
Add to that the Younger Dryas. One of the most fascinating climate diversions in recent geologic history. Surmised that the meltwater of the Laurentide switched the Gulf Stream / AMOC into the slow or “off” state, something it’s possible the earth will see happen again even in the near future.
Members of my church went to Haiti after the earthquake. They befriended a young girl of about 12. Her head was shaved, and she went out of her way to pretend she was a boy. She told them that rapes of girls her age by roving bends of thugs were an everyday occurrence .
This is just sad, especially those so poor, and destitute that they can't get out of poverty. I don't think any of us can imagine but, when you look in the wood lines and overpasses you can see it the number of tents where human souls like us are living. It really is sad.
They cannot escape poverty because the have a horribly corrupt government. Bad government perpetuates poverty so the elites can stay rich.
I still remember when Reverend Pat Robertson said the earthquake and the mass casualties were caused by the Haitians after making a pact with the Devil to free them from slavery by the French.
Let’s remember the Clinton Foundation’s heroic efforts to bring relief to Haiti. That the Clintons generously postered for themselves.
I was in early elementary school when this happened, and I didn’t understand why my dad had to leave for two weeks. Now I know it’s because he went to Haiti to help rebuild
This one was heart breaking
Good video 👍
Google recently removed Haitian Creole from Google Translate's text-to-speech system. Says it all, really, doesn't it.
Says what really? Google is a business, and just as if you had a restaurant in the US, you might have menus in Spanish, or Korean/Chinese if many speakers in your area, but you aren’t going to have menus in Catalonia, Urdu, Tagalog, Cherokee, Romanian and all the hundreds of other languages worldwide. That doesn’t make you evil or oppressive….it is a business decision. Businesses aren’t there to provide things to people…they are there to make money.
"it killed untold numbers of Colonial @ssholes" Love you Simon and your writer(s)
My dad went there for humanatrian relief (he's an EMT) with our church shortly after this, and he almost never brings it up. I now know why...
a 'Whistle-Out' to Whistler!
The Haiti earthquake was horrendous. a friend of mine who is a Salvation Army officer helped with the clean up and helping the displaced people in refugee camps.
After it happened I was living in the streets with my family for months without barely any food and water .. I was 7 years old . I remember like it was yesterday
I survived this earthquake. Most horrible day of my life... By far
I remember when that NPR article came out. Absolutely devastating to read how poorly the Red Cross behaved and I've never donated to any large charity since. I look for local groups who are near the people who need the help. I have been donating to directly to individual Ukraine residents through Air B&B since March. This way I know I'm helping actual citizens and not padding the pockets of politicians, celebrities, organization CEOs, etc.
Tragic story whenever we hear human suffering, but some.places are worse than others
This has to be down there at the worst 😞🤦🏻♂️
Great job as always. Can you do a video on Haitian President Jovenel Moise and his assignation?
I remember it so well. I was 11. It was scary
2010 was a year of horrible earthquakes. But Haiti was completely forgotten and left to rot.
When they say "lessons need to be learned", they forget to hire the teachers to hold said lessons...
the earthquake in chile that killed a third of their population was quite bad as well
What earthquake are you talking about? Chile had the biggest earthquake in recorded history in 1960, the 9.5 Valdivia Earthquake. Approximately 7,000 people were killed in Chile.
That’s why people are starting to question giving. Of all the money that was given for Haiti they could have rebuilt the country twice over.
We have to get better at this.
At watching the video?
When the 2021 quake hit and was bigger I was like holy shit this will be bad
Only 1.4 percent ish if the 2010 death toll died but “It is the deadliest earthquake and deadliest natural disaster of 2021.”
Now I want a poptart
What does it taste like?
And the horror and suffering continue to this day.
Video starts at 1:36 :D
No, during the Warby Parker ad he was funny, calling himself a "bald, bearded, fact boy!":-D
I’m glad that you delved into the appalling failure that was the humanitarian relief effort for Haiti. I first read about it years ago. The Red Cross in particular has a lot to answer for, to this day I refuse to donate to them because of their response to Haiti.
Haiti is a massive failure.
Putting Bill Clinton in charge just hurts. You couldn’t have chosen a more crooked person other than Joe Biden to put in charge
I'm homeless and I actually sleep in front of a warby parker store. I help clean the area and stuff so they are really cool.
Skip ad @ 1:40.
This story is so tragic
Everything that happened with the money that was supposed to go to Haiti that exact same thing is happening now with the money that's supposed to be going to help Ukraine
Yep my thoughts exactly.
1st natural disaster I remember born in 2001 so yeah missed Katrina and Indonesia tsunami
I went online and found photos of corpses of victims. They were crushed contorted, severely burned. Some people were even dismembered it’s horrible how the bodies were piled up like leaves decaying in the streets half naked.
The one in which all the Hollywood goofballs turned up simply for the cameras.
How many teleprompters do you use?
About... five.
Hearing how do many are still in such bad condition makes me curious how the current pandemic has effected them as well.
This is the only video you've done that's actually made me cry. We failed the people of Haiti, we being the world. The fact no one saw prison time for all the missing money is just as bad.
They are adults and their own country, they don’t need babysitted by civilised world
@@rtggghjj455 Jeezuz
@@rtggghjj455 Yes, and when the world does it's IMPERIALIIIIIIIIIIIISMMMMMMAAAAAA!!!!
This happened back when I was in grade 10
Are you a neurosurgeon now?
I thought I clicked on a Geographics video, but I think it was a Into The Shadows video instead
You should talk about the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. I remember I was 4 watching the TV with my mom while that was happening.
I had the exact same experience. Terrifying dose of reality aged only 4
They should have started with an up to date sewer system with treatment stations, building from the ground up. This was a failure of humanity fueled by greed.
Called here in Haiti "the Goudougoudou".
Haiti and Haitian corruption is responsible for Haiti's problems, not America. Is the UK responsible for everything that happens in their former colonies?
Haiti was a French colony. The USA has also occupied Haiti on a few occasions.
According to former UK colonies, yes.
@@richardgreen7225 Shouldn't have any baring today. That's just something people say to justify why a country is poor.
Sad truth is, some people just cannot rule themselves.
America played a big part. I got family and friends of my family that played in both sides of bad thing that happend in Haiti. Most of the corrupt people in haiti past and corrupt police officers, war leaders are former guys that worked with the FBI and CIA, some were even in the U.S army. America gave guns to some of these guys so they can start shit and start coups
Me sitting here About halfway through the video wondering if he's going to mention the Clinton foundation, and how they got rich from this crisis and didn't do anything for Haiti.
most of the buildings were not reinforced in the concrete
Port Royale: we had the worst earthquake.
Shhh. We're talking about Haiti right now, okay.
Of course it's on everyone else but Haitians to fix their own country?
Yeah, I'm a little stumped by this.
This feels like it was written by a Haitian person.
Well if your country doesn't have a gdp it's hard to fix things.
Love your videos, but I disagree that the 'world' is responsible to rebuild their country. A nation that doesn't learn, is irresponsible and is corrupt does not deserve this.
Amen. The corrupt government of Haiti is responsible, not " the world.". If other countries stepped in and ended the corrupt government, then this video would have been about the evils of imperialism. Is Haiti a nation or a charity case?
@@markrobinson9956 A charity case, and a basket case.
After the 2008 hurricanes and 2010 earthquake, one can’t help but feel absolutely terrible for the people of Haiti. I wish I could wave a magic wand and send them hundreds of billions of dollars in new infrastructure construction.
So Haiti just being Haiti.
Testify Simon
I was 14 when this happened. I think I'm ready now.
Edit: I wasn't ready 😭
And yet no great rebuilding happened. Unbelievable.
Gut wrenching
Don't blame the "richer" neighbours. Haiti is fully responsible for their poverty, and thus their susceptibility to natural disasters. Look at the Dominican Republic with whom they share an island. They are far wealthier. Haiti tolerated corrupt dictators and reap the rewards.
Then show them the way out from corrupt dictactors.
@@iriswaterford8881 No because the leftists will cry out imperialism.
Oh please the same DR that got illegal human trafficking and little boys selling themselves. My mom is Dominican and the only reason why DR is doing better is because they aren’t the First Black nation to get freedom. If it was DR or any other country that was the first, they would’ve been in the same position.
Do you always blame people for the situation that they have no control over?
Haitians today are poor because of corruption that has been around for centuries.
Wow it was deadlier than the Lisbon earthquake?
This is just horrible...
Well... that's life.
Good morning 🌄 from Idaho 🤠 USA it's 8:02 am
Its 7:56am in sunny California!
There was money there., Maybe not all that was promised. But if charities weren't actually on the ground or working with someone directly on the ground, the money was squandered or stolen by the "authorities." Whoever comes to power just exploits all they can until overthrown, and this cycle is so normal, it doesn't seem people even hope to have a functioning government that works for the people. But they've never gotten to experience it, so its like - in some ways - its hard to know what you are missing.
The people and the culture can be so beautiful, but as a nationstate, it has basically failed and continues to exist that way. And its too complex a problem for people to make a simple concise argument that could solve all of their problems if implemented correctly. And its too complex a problem for even kind-hearted people to throw a ton of money towards fixing and assume that will solve it. Unfortunately Simon is correct. It is still the same, or worse. Every hurricane season I prepare myself for that inevitable tragedy, the one that waits in the future, even as others continue on in the present.
Hillary does so rarely blink
Why does that matter?
Where did all of that Clinton Foundation money that was supposed to go to Haiti go?
To fund pizza parlors disguised as pedophilia fronts...duh.
Ellora Caves
I remember this earthquake
Was there ever a more benighted people?