Ten Years Back a Big Earthquake Hit Haiti and Brought Disaster, But Culture Survived

This month marks ten years since Haiti’s 7.0 magnitude earthquake, devastating the lives of millions of Haitians. But their deeply rooted culture and history has inspired and led to international efforts to save heritage.

In the first few days following the catastrophic earthquake, Haitians immediately rushed to save books, artifacts, musical instruments and other precious items that define the nation’s culture. International efforts joined in quickly, including a cultural rescue operation led by the Smithsonian, a U.S. government institution, in collaboration with both cultural and international organizations including UNESCO.

“The Haiti effort provided a model of how U.S. government agencies and cultural organizations could collaborate to save heritage in disaster and conflict situations,” says Dr. Richard Kurin, Smithsonian’s Distinguished Scholar and Ambassador at Large.

Inspired by the Haiti effort, the Smithsonian established the Cultural Rescue Initiative to help other countries recover from disaster, and its Museum Conservation Institute works closely with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security to help prevent cultural treasure looting and trafficking.