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Port-au-Prince, Haiti has one of the most active geological settings in the world. It is arguable within the boundaries of the Ring of Fire. It lies between the North American and Caribbean plates. The Caribbean plate moves from east to west, and has created in interconnected series of fault lines.
There are two major fault lines in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The major fault line is called Enriquilla-Plantain Garden is where most of the major earthquakes occur. The fault is a transform boundary and strike-slip faults occur there often. Uri Ten Brink Geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey said, " It might be less active [than the San Andreas fault], but also the reason [that you hear less about it] is the same reason that you hear about murders in Washington D.C. but not somewhere in the Amazon-if it's close to us, close to our heart, we talk about it." On January 12, 2010, one of Haiti's worst earthquakes happened near the city of Port-au-Prince. It measured to be a 7.0 magnitude, it was one of the biggest in history since 1770. The "Great Earthquake" had 30 or more aftershocks. It killed 316,000 people, injured 300,000, and left 100,000 homeless. One in every three people were affected by this earthquake. Banner Image:https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5104/5858252287_32b2669d28.jpg |