Abstract (EN)

On February 27, 2010, at 3:34 a.m., an 8.8-magnitude earthquake hit the regions of El Maule and Bío Bío in southern Chile and was followed by a devastating tsunami. The earthquake has been ranked as the sixth-strongest in recorded history and caused instant chaos and devastation that led to the loss of 575 lives. The economic losses are estimated to be in the range of US$30 billion, equivalent to 18 percent of Chile’s gross domestic product. Entire cities and especially coastal towns were significantly damaged. The most severe destruction was registered in the cities of Concepción, Constitución, Talcahuano, and Talca, approximately 400 miles south of Chile’s capital, Santiago. During the hours following the earthquake President Michelle Bachelet declared a state of catastrophe and sent troops to take control of the most affected areas. The loss of life was tragic, particularly because many lives could have been saved if adequate tsunami warning had been given. Yet despite this failure, the death toll would have been significantly higher if the country had not been so well prepared for this kind of disaster. Similarly, despite its material destruction, Chile’s infrastructure held up extremely well: 370,000 homes were lost, but only 2.5 percent of the country’s infrastructure was damaged. How well the country coped with the disaster is perhaps best illustrated by the fact that within 24 hours of the earthquake the national highway that connects North with South was open again, most of Santiago’s underground Metro system was operating, and the city’s airport, which had been damaged, was functioning again, enabling aid from the capital to reach the victims in the South.