A Comprehensive Analysis of Building Damage in the 2010 Haiti Earthquake Using High-Resolution Imagery and Crowdsourcing

This chapter provides a detailed account of how technology, inspiration and collaboration were used to rapidly assess damage caused by the devastating January 12, 2010 Haiti earthquake. This was one of the first events where remote sensing technology (especially high spatial resolution imagery) was embraced in a truly operational sense to support post-disaster recovery planning. Sub-meter satellite imagery was available the day following the earthquake, and provided the first glimpse of the destruction caused by the earthquake. Days later, finer spatial resolution aerial imagery became available and provided even more detail on building damage. Together, these datasets allowed over 600 remote sensing experts and engineers to generate one of the most comprehensive assessments of earthquake building damage in the last decade. Furthermore, this information was shared with Haitian government in the form of a Building Damage Assessment Report in support of the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) and Recovery Framework.