Haiti Earthquake Damage Assessment from Satellite Imagery, August 2021

Haiti's South, Grande Anse, and Nippes departments are covered in this preliminary damage assessment for the 14 August 2021 M7.2 earthquake. The United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) analyzed approximately 550 km2, identifying 1,842 damaged buildings and 130 road obstacles by comparing pre- and post-event satellite imagery. The report was last updated in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Mapping building damage density based on the identified 1,842 damaged structures.
• Analyzing transportation network disruptions based on the reported 130 road obstacles.
• Conducting comparative analysis of disaster impact across the three Haitian departments.
• Training machine learning models for automated damage detection from satellite imagery.

Strengths

• Analysis covers a defined geographic area of approximately 550 km2.
• Provides specific counts of 1,842 damaged buildings and 130 road obstacles.
• Data is derived from satellite imagery sourced via the International Charter Space and Major Disasters.

Limitations

• Row count and column-level documentation are absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The analysis is described as preliminary, suggesting findings may be subject to revision.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the selected departments and satellite coverage.

Provenance

Source

United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT)

Collection Method

Building damage and road condition analysis conducted by comparing satellite imagery acquired before and after the earthquake.

Time Range

August 2021

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03 07 09:23:26.569576; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Departments of South, Grande Anse, and Nippes, Haiti