It took only 45 seconds to level Port-au-Prince killing 200,000 and injuring 250,000 with the number rising every day. For those that have survived the outlook is bleak. It is estimated that 1.5 million have been left homeless with nowhere to go and no one to care for them-only one hospital remains standing.

Many will never know the fate of their loved ones as bodies are thrown into mass graves to stop the spread of disease and children presumed to be orphaned are airlifted out by international adoption agencies without checks to see if they have any surviving family.

As the dust settles and the damage becomes ever clearer we must ask ourselves – was this simply a natural disaster, or was it a man-made catastrophe?

In 1989 an earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter Scale hit the wealthy Bay Area in California, and despite it being densely populated only 63 people lost their lives. The endemic poverty that plagues Haiti has meant that construction was never regulated, allowing whole shantytowns to be built using cheap cement.

It is estimated that 2 million people were living in these poorly built compounds, resulting in whole families – even whole communities – being wiped out when the earthquake hit. The incompetent and corrupt government failed to offer the most basic guards against such natural disasters and should be held equally accountable as nature itself.

As the rescue teams pack up to go home and the job of reconstruction begins, we should remember that whilst we cannot stop natural disasters from happening, we can minimise the damage they cause. A general pattern has emerged which disregards the long-term safety of the country, instead seeking to return to normality as quickly as possible no matter what the cost.

This fast turnaround means that houses are rebuilt using the same inadequate materials and thereby crumble just as fast. Instead, the money pouring into Haiti at the moment from generous donations, should be used to carefully rebuild the country’s infrastructure in a way which will protect it from having to bear witness to this scale of disaster again.

Geologists predict that this earthquake is simply one in a sequence that of larger tremors that will hit the Caribbean over the next 40 years. For Haiti to be anything but meaningless we must take this as a warning of what is to come, and make sure these vulnerable countries and communities are protected to the highest of standards – starting with Haiti itself.