Case History
The Geotechnical Aspects of the Haiti Earthquake
Ellen M. Rathje, University of Texas
Introduction
On January 12, 2010 a magnitude Mw 7.0 earthquake struck the Port-au-Prince region of Haiti. The Geotechnical Extreme Events Reconnaissance (GEER) Association mobilized a reconnaissance team, funded by the United States National Science Foundation, to document the geotechnical and geologic aspects of this event. The team members included: Prof. Ellen Rathje (Team leader, University of Texas), Mr. Jeff Bachhuber (Fugro/William Lettis & Associates), Prof. Brady Cox (University of Arkansas), Mr. Jim French (AMEC/Geomatrix), Prof. Russell Green (Virginia Tech), Prof. Scott Olson (University of Illinois), Prof. Glenn Rix (Georgia Tech), Mr. Oscar Suncar (University of Texas), and Mr. Donald Wells (AMEC/Geomatrix). This report is based on the extended GEER reconnaissance report by Rathje et al. (2010), which can be found at: http://www.geerassociation.org/GEER_Post%20EQ%20Reports/Haiti_2010/Cover_Haiti10.html
Seismological Aspects and Regional Geology
The Mw = 7.0 Haiti earthquake occurred at 4:53 PM local time on January 12, 2010. The USGS reports that the earthquake epicenter was located at 18.457N, 72.533W, approximately 25 km west of the city of Port- au-Prince. The earthquake was initially presumed to have occurred on the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault Zone (EPGFZ), a left-lateral, strike-slip fault that slips approximately 7 mm/yr (Figure 1). Although the EPGFZ is a strike-slip fault, the focal mechanism for this earthquake was identified as left- lateral/oblique. Additionally, the EPGFZ did not rupture at the surface and significant uplift occurred north of the EPGFZ (see Section 4.0, Rathje et al. 2010), such that there is significant uncertainty regarding the causative fault for the earthquake. Large earthquakes have not occurred recently on the EPGFZ, but historical records indicate that Port-au-Prince was destroyed by earthquakes in both 1751 and 1770. These events are believed to have occurred on the EPGFZ.
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