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1749-00-00

1749-00-00: (Port-au-Prince Established, the City That Would Become Haiti’s Capital, Built on a Seismic Fault Line in a Location Chosen for Colonial Administ…

Haitian

1749-00-00: (Port-au-Prince Established, the City That Would Become Haiti’s Capital, Built on a Seismic Fault Line in a Location Chosen for Colonial Administrative Convenience Rather Than Safety): In 1749, Port-au-Prince was established, the city that would eventually become the capital of Haiti. Its location was chosen for colonial administrative convenience: it sat at the center of the colony’s western coast, accessible by sea. That it was also built on the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault line, one of the most active seismic zones in the Caribbean, was either unknown or disregarded. Port-au-Prince has been devastated by earthquakes multiple times since its founding, most catastrophically in 2010, and the choice of its location remains one of those colonial decisions whose consequences compound across centuries.