Haiti to Hayti: It’s Not That Far (Commentary)

It’s childish to reduce American aid for earthquake victims in Haiti to either a completely moral or political imperative. Grow up. It’s both, just as it should be.

There are actually many obvious motivations for participating in the international humanitarian relief effort. One is particularly relevant for Arkansas: experience.

The 7.0-magnitude quake that knocked the Caribbean nation to its knees on Jan. 12 unleashed a catastrophic cry for help not seen in the Western Hemisphere since Sept. 11, 2001. If the images of children mangled by fallen cinderblocks weren’t enough, the ensuing spread of hunger and suffering obviously warrant our assistance.

A well-writ article by Juliet O’Neill of the Canwest News Service in Ottawa, Canada, pointed out some of the less benevolent – albeit equally important – reasons for getting involved. For oft-overlooked countries such as Iceland or Brazil, it’s a “marketing” opportunity to join relief alliances alongside brands such as the U.S., China and Great Britain.

It is in our vital interest to promote stability among nations, especially in such a security sieve as Haiti. It’s also invaluable for emergency relief and military teams to get “live” training in dealing with disasters. Whether we’re helping Haiti for selfish or selfless reasons, the reality is we’re going to learn a lot about dealing with earthquake aftermath from this.

That’s a unique opportunity for those of us within striking distance of the New Madrid Seismic Zone. Stretching 150 miles southwest from Cairo, Ill., through Hayti and New Madrid, Mo., the zone extends into Arkansas through Blytheville to Marked Tree. An in-depth 2005 article on the zone may be found at ArkansasBusiness.com by searching for “Madrid.”

The fault line is credited with three of the largest North American earthquakes on record between 1811 and 1812. They are all believed to have had Richter-Scale magnitudes of 8.0 or greater, according to the Central United States Earthquake Consortium in Memphis, Tenn.

By comparison, the CUSEC notes the 6.7-magnitude Northridge, California quake of 1994 cost 33 lives and $20 billion in damages. The 6.9-magnitude Kobe, Japan, earthquake of 1995 cost 5,500 lives and $100 billion in damages.

The total damage on Haiti might not be tallied for some time. Already, the death toll is estimated in the 200,000 range.

The 19th Century New Madrid quakes occurred when the area was sparsely populated. Today metropolitan areas such as Memphis, St. Louis and maybe Little Rock would likely be affected. In fact, the CUSEC provides online estimates for the effects of a hypothetical 7.7 magnitude earthquake in the New Madrid zone that takes in seven states and all of Arkansas.

Brady Cox, an assistant professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Arkansas and an earthquake-damage expert, said U.S. building codes would likely prevent the level of destruction that’s been seen in Haiti. Older buildings, particularly with un-reinforced masonry are the most brittle and therefore at risk, he said.

The potential for soil liquefaction and the presence of deep soft-soil deposits are typical of the Arkansas Delta’s geology. Both amplify ground motion and damage to infrastructure such as utility lines and bridges during an earthquake, he said.

CUSEC estimates say the probability of a 6.0 or larger level quake hitting the New Madrid zone in any 50-year period is 25 to 40 percent. The point is to be as prepared as possible and understand logistics and protocol needs in hopes of avoiding post Hurricane Katrina-like confusion.

An Associated Press story a week after Haiti’s earthquake quoted 29-year-old Haitian Tatony Vieux about the continued chaos in the streets. “We never count on the government here,” he said. “Never.”

If saving Haiti’s broken bodies or its “body politic” doesn’t seem worth U.S. involvement, think of it as an investment in a dependable response.

Next time, the “poor neighbor” might be closer than you think.