VIRTUAL London.
Abstract
Adaptive capacity can be an important strategy for people to deal with earthquake effects in urban area. In 2021, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck Anse-à-Veau, a town located in the southern part of Haiti, did not record any deaths, despite destruction and damaged houses in the Basse-Ville. Thus, reducing human losses caused by this hazard requires to explore how people act to protect themselves. This paper seeks to explore the adaptive capacity of households to the effects of the earthquakes. A total of 47 interviews was conducted in the two mains areas of the town: 23 in the Basse-Ville and 24 in the Haute-Ville. The data collected were analysed using NVivo 14 to identify themes and sub-themes related to households’ adaptive capacity to earthquake. Adaptive capacity is conceptualised in four components: anticipation, coping, recovery, and preparation for the future. Five determinants such as perception, ability, action, resource, and support were selected to analyse each component of households’ adaptive capacity to the 2021 earthquake. Preliminary results suggest that households are less prepared to anticipate earthquakes despite the widely shared earthquake experience among respondents. In terms of recovering from the effects of earthquake, respondents expressed their uncertainty about the recovery time, but relied on their resourcefulness as strategy to overcome. Nevertheless, awareness-raising, and building earthquake-resistant houses were identified as important to be better prepared for the impact of a future earthquake. This article highlights that households’ adaptive capacity could be a strategy to make towns more safety despite limited financial resources.
Garry Jourdan is Haitian. He is finalizing his PhD studies at the University of Namur, Belgium. He holds two master’s degrees in French as Foreign Language and Geography from the University of Rouen and the University of Paris 8, France respectively. His ongoing research relates to population adaptive capacity to earthquake and flood in Haiti and Belgium. He serves as a part-time lecturer in the Department of Social Sciences at the Teacher Training School and Faculty of Human Sciences at the State University of Haiti. He likes to learn from other colleagues and to share his experiences.
Florence De Longueville is post-doctoral researcher at the Department of Geography of the University of Namur. She is interested in human dimensions of environmental change. Specifically, her areas of research focus on impacts of climate on health and migration, mainly in West Africa. Her work has included field-based research in Burkina Faso and Benin. She has consulted on environmental migration issues for the Nansen Initiative and the World Bank. She has lectured at University of Parakou (Benin), University of Liege, Sciences Po – Paris (France), University of Namur, University of Kinshasa (RDC).
Wisly Dieujuste is a geographer, cartographer and lecturer at the Université d’État d’Haïti. He studied geography at the Université d’État d’Haïti and the Université Paris8. His current research focuses on innovative teaching methods and the transfer of knowledge about natural hazards. He is the author of the board game “Goudougoudou”, which is an innovative way of learning about seismic risk management in schools. His future research project is to develop an active medium for teaching about seismic risk.
Garry Jourdan is finalizing his PhD studies at the University of Namur, Belgium. He holds two master’s degrees in French as Foreign Language and Geography from the University of Rouen and the University of Paris 8, France respectively. His ongoing research relates to population adaptive capacity to earthquake and flood in Haiti and Belgium. He serves as a part-time lecturer in the Department of Social Sciences at the Teacher Training School and Faculty of Human Sciences at the State University of Haiti. He likes to learn from other colleagues and to share his experiences.