Massive Damage Assessment Program and Repair and Reconstruction Strategy in the Aftermath of the 2010 Haiti Earthquake

The January 2010 Haiti earthquake resulted in over 230,000 deaths, affected 3 million people, and damaged or collapsed over 200,000 structures.

An unprecedented earthquake damage assessment project by a joint operation of the Haitian Ministry of Public Works, the United Nations Office of Project Services, the Pan American Development Foundation, and the authors was undertaken with three strategic goals: (1) rapid damage assessment, (2) reconstruction data base development, and (3) upgrade the technical capabilities of Haitian engineers. A modified version of the Applied Technology Council's ATC-20 technical platform, accounting for Haitian building design, was developed.

As part of this program, PDA-based data collection techniques and quality assurance programs were implemented, and approximately 600 Haitian engineers were trained. As of March 2011, approximately 400,000 buildings had been inspected. This database was used to develop: (1) repair strategies for yellow-tagged structures, and (2) reparability, reconstruction, and demolition assessments or red-tagged structures. This program could also be extended as a platform for a seismic damage evaluation and reconstruction strategies in other parts of the world.