[Petronski]

Actually, third world countries tend to do fairly well in earthquakes due to single story construction with lightweight materials.

Do you know anything about the geography of Port-au-Prince? Did you even look at the photo I posted?

[oldleft]

Yes, the structures in the picture are not susceptible to collapse and in the event of a collapse they tend not to cause significant injuries. The fact that they're on a hillside is good and bad. Good, because it means that they're not in a liquefaction zone. Bad, because they are vulnerable to landslides.

The big quakes in Mexico City have generally cause high levels of damage in the city center due to liquefaction and high-rise construction whereas the slums do much better.