The January 2010 Haiti earthquake was catastrophic, leaving one million homeless. In this focus issue we have gathered articles — ranging from primary research to opinion pieces — that explore the physical processes responsible for the earthquake and the damage caused, as well as the humanitarian problems now facing the poorest country in the western hemisphere.
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Letters
Localized damage caused by topographic amplification during the 12 January 2010 M7.0 Haiti earthquake - pp778 - 782
Susan E. Hough, Jean Robert Altidor, Dieuseul Anglade, Doug Given, M. Guillard Janvier, J. Zebulon Maharrey, Mark Meremonte, Bernard Saint-Louis Mildor, Claude Prepetit & Alan Yong
doi:10.1038/ngeo988
Microzonation maps use local geological conditions to characterize seismic hazard, but do not generally consider topography. Ground motions during the Haiti earthquake are found to have been significantly amplified along a high topographic ridge, which caused substantial structural damage, indicating that topography can play an important role in seismic hazard.
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High tsunami frequency as a result of combined strike-slip faulting and coastal landslides - pp783 - 788
Matthew J. Hornbach, Nicole Braudy, Richard W. Briggs, Marie-Helene Cormier, Marcy B. Davis, John B. Diebold, Nicole Dieudonne, Roby Douilly, Cliff Frohlich, Sean P. S. Gulick, Harold E. Johnson III, Paul Mann, Cecilia McHugh, Katherine Ryan-Mishkin, Carol S. Prentice, Leonardo Seeber, Christopher C. Sorlien, Michael S. Steckler, Steeve Julien Symithe, Frederick W. Taylor & John Templeton
doi:10.1038/ngeo975
The 12 January 2010 Mw 7.0 Haiti earthquake exhibited primarily strike-slip motion but unusually generated a tsunami. An extensive field survey reveals that coastal strike-slip fault systems produce relief conducive to rapid sedimentation, erosion and slope failure, so that even modest predominantly strike-slip earthquakes can cause potentially catastrophic slide-generated tsunamis.
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Seismic hazard of the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault in Haiti inferred from palaeoseismology - pp789 - 793
C. S. Prentice, P. Mann, A. J. Crone, R. D. Gold, K. W. Hudnut, R. W. Briggs, R. D. Koehler & P. Jean
doi:10.1038/ngeo991
The Enriquillo–Plantain Garden fault zone is the primary plate-bounding fault system in Haiti and was initially thought to be responsible for the 2010 earthquake. Palaeoseismic analyses of the fault system indicate that it ruptured during a large earthquake in either 1750 or 1770, but did not rupture the surface during the 2010 earthquake.
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Transpressional rupture of an unmapped fault during the 2010 Haiti earthquake - pp794 - 799
Eric Calais, Andrew Freed, Glen Mattioli, Falk Amelung, Sigurjón Jónsson, Pamela Jansma, Sang-Hoon Hong, Timothy Dixon, Claude Prépetit & Roberte Momplaisir
doi:10.1038/ngeo992
The Enriquillo–Plantain Garden strike-slip fault accommodates the relative motion between the North American and Caribbean plates and was thought to have ruptured during the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Satellite data instead indicate that a blind thrust fault, possibly related to the Haitian fold-thrust belt, was responsible and caused some contractional deformation.
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Article
Complex rupture during the 12 January 2010 Haiti Earthquake - pp800 - 805
G. P. Hayes, R. W. Briggs, A. Sladen, E. J. Fielding, C. Prentice, K. Hudnut, P. Mann, F. W. Taylor, A. J. Crone, R. Gold, T. Ito & M. Simons
doi:10.1038/ngeo977
Initially, the devastating 12 January 2010 Haiti earthquake seemed to involve straightforward accommodation of the motion between the Caribbean and North American plates. A combination of seismological observations, geologic field data and space geodetic measurements shows that the rupture process may have involved slip on multiple faults, but lacked significant surface deformation.
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Backstory
Esprit de corps in Haiti - pp808
Matthew Hornbach et al.
doi:10.1038/ngeo997
Matthew J. Hornbach and colleagues navigated shallow debris-filled waters in an attempt to understand the factors that contributed to tsunami generation during the Haiti earthquake.
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