Chile Earthquake Flashcards
Date of Earthquake
27 February 2010
Magnitude / Aftershock Magnitudes
8.8 on the Richter scale
By 6 March there had been at least 130 aftershocks including 13 above the magnitude 6.0
What were the Plate Boundaries that were involved?
South American and Nazca Plate Boundary
How much did it move local towns?
Moved the nearby town of Concepcion 3m west
Primary impacts - Death, Missing and Injured
520 people were killed, with 56 missing and 12,000 injured.
Primary Impacts - Building Damage
4
Shaking caused building collapse which caused many deaths.
1.5 million homes damaged, displacing 800,000 people.
4,000 schools and 79 hospitals damaged.
Most of Santiago left without water and electricity.
Primary Impacts - Total cost
Total estimated cost of £20 billion
Secondary impacts?
5 + 1
Landslides caused considerable damage to infrastructure and blocked roads, severely impacting transportation.
Damage to a chemical plant due to fire caused by the earthquake.
30 minutes after initial shock a series of tsunamis hit Chile’s coastline.
Warnings were also issued in 53 other countries with coastlines along the Pacific Ocean causing evacuation to affect many.
Soil liquefaction did occur for example all 4 bridges over the Bio Bio River were damaged.
The single largest loss of life was on La Isla Orrego, an island in the River Maule, when a tsunami flooded a campsite packed with people on holiday during the weekend of 27 and 28 February.
How did previous earthquakes help the response to this event?
Earthquake in 1960 killed 1,650 and left over 2 million homeless.
Government developed an improved design code for new buildings to enable them to better withstand earthquake.
Buildings framework constructed out of concrete columns, helped prevent widespread building collapse.
Immediate responses - Within Country
3
President declared state of catastrophe in 6 regions of the country.
Soldiers sent to most affected regions to prevent looting, set curfews and provide basic supplies.
The government also reached an agreement with the major super-markets to give basic foodstuffs to people affected by the earthquake
Immediate Responses - International
5
After the full extent of the damage was realised, international assistance was requested in the form of field hospitals, water purification plants, temporary bridges and expert damage assessment.
The United States provided water, food and satellite communications equipment.
The UK’s Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service donated a device to make it easier to locate people who are trapped in collapsed buildings.
Non-government organisations like the Red Cross also helped. $58 million was raised by a 24-hour telethon on Chilean television.
To provide accommodation for people who had lost their homes, 12 emergency housing areas were set up, composed first of tents and then small wooden huts for individual families.
Long term responses?
3
Six months on from the earthquake, some residents in affected areas were critical that more had not been done to rebuild housing.
The government argued that new building could not take place until detailed surveys had been made to ensure that potential land for building was safe for housing in the event of another earthquake.
In the longer term, the government set up a special fund to pay for the rebuilding of houses, hospitals, roads and schools.
