During the early morning of the 27th of February 2010, Chile experienced the second largest earthquake in its history, and according to the US Geological Survey the fifth largest in recent history.
A magnitude 8.8 on the Richter struck Chile. The earthquake lasted about two minutes and affected 75% of the total population, which are approximately 12 million people out of the total 17 million. The epicentre was about 325 southwest of the capital the Santiago, 33 kilometres below the Pacific Ocean. The earthquake triggered a tsunami that affected about 307 miles of coastline. It is estimated that there were at least 500 people killed and around 370,000 houses damaged or destroyed. The earthquake affected the
central
zone
of
Chile
from
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Chile is used to numerous earthquakes, preparedness measures and strict building construction rules for new buildings have demonstrate the effectiveness of these rules. Chile 2010 earthquake caused Chile to face some problems in other such as food scarcity, disorder and chaos in cities and a prison escape.
Chile’s preparation for the event kept the death toll low. Analyst reported that the Chilean government as well as the local people were prepared. One of the main featured of the effective preparedness are a series of fundamental laws that the country has in case of dealing with a catastrophe. The country also established strict regulations for the construction, counting that construction companies in Chile are used to build having earthquakes in mind. In 1995 the country settled drills in case of an earthquake, some years the number of participants reached 350,000 people. According to the Daily Telegraph, School children practice earthquake drill 3 times a year. Every workplace in Chile is required to have an emergency procedure and according to the Telegraph most people know which walls are the structural walls of the house less likely to
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Committees were created, one to respond to the emergency and another team to deal with the reconstruction plan. Armed forces were sent to restore the public order, building emergency housing and clearing debris, carrying out humanitarian aid. Civil society was responsible for collecting and distributing the basic needs such as water, non-perishable, hygiene kits and medicines. Apart from foreign humanitarian aid, numerous interior institutions helped, these were: Regional governments, the Navy, the national emergency office, the army, civil society and customs. By April there were 4,100 military troops deployed, by May the number of troops increased to 5,400, the number of troops by June was around