I wrote this post months ago and didn't bother publishing it. I started editing it last night, after a conversation with a friend about building greener homes that are resistant to natural disasters. Today, a major earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand, caused extensive damage, but amazingly, no lives were lost. The older buildings were the ones most damaged.
Haiti. Earthquakes don't kill people. Bad buildings do. Poverty restricts the quality of buildings. In Haiti, corruption and turmoil has contributed to keeping the country poor. The Dominican Republic's GDP is six times more per capita than Haiti. The DR enjoys relative political stability and a healthier economy. That's a relative comparison of two countries with similar geo-politics.
An architect friend listed just one design concept societies incorporate while building homes to weather natural disaster. Using shifting rubber bases in the foundation to absorb the shock of an earthquake.
Would the situation in Pakistan, with the recent floods, be improved if the country had access to better infrastructure? Absolutely. Yet, a country can only deal with a limited number of issues. There are bound to be things that go wrong. The difference is evident in the recovery process. A healthy economy goes a long way in aiding rehabilitation.
