The Underlying Tragedy

On Oct. 17, 1989, a major earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 struck the Bay Area in Northern California. Sixty-three people were killed. This week, a major earthquake, also measuring a magnitude of 7.0, struck near Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The Red Cross estimates that between 45,000 and 50,000 people have died.

This is not a natural disaster story. This is a poverty story. It’s a story about poorly constructed buildings, bad infrastructure and ... Full Story »

Posted by Fabrice Florin - via AllTop, New York Times (Opinion), Opinion Source, New York Times (Most Emailed)

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jeanne gates
4.8
by jeanne gates - Jan. 16, 2010

David Brooks is dealing with the part of the Haiti story that normally journalists and government officials deal with a year or more after the tragedy. By talking about it now, aid workers and ngos might finally get it right in Haiti and set a formula that could work in Somalia and elsewhere.

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