Quality of building codes prevents higher fatality in Chile

An 8.8-magnitude earthquake hit the South American country of Chile this past weekend, killing over 700 people and displacing over 2 million. The epicenter of the quake was reported to be approximately 70 miles from Chile’s second largest city, Concepcion. The city of Concepcion has been left in shambles by the earthquake, leaving survivors without water, food or electricity.  
Chile prevented a much more devastating result after this quake due to its building codes. An assessment of the destruction shows that although many modern buildings show few signs of damage, most homes and older buildings in and around Concepcion have been either completely destroyed or severely damaged. The location of the epicenter in a more rural area may have prevented more deaths.  
Officials have reported cases of looting in Concepcion supermarkets and gas stations, mostly for food, water and gasoline with the occasional reports of appliances and other household electronics. The Chilean military has been deployed to the affected areas and have taken control of the streets, implementing a curfew and guarding vulnerable businesses. Supermarkets have agreed to the government’s requests that it give out free food for those in need.  
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet has referred to the natural disaster as “an emergency unparalleled in the history of Chile.” Bachelet urged the nation’s utility companies to work as quickly as possible to restore service in order to regain the use of cellular phones, communication grids and potable water. President Bachelet has also deployed Chile’s military to erect tent hospitals in the affected areas, as many of the local hospital facilities are not considered structurally safe. Rescue efforts have been affected by the lack of electricity, making it extremely difficult to rummage through rubble in the dark, especially in a structurally unsound building.  
More than 90 aftershocks were also reported in the hours after the initial quake, many of those reaching Richter scale magnitudes of more than 6.5. The earthquake that devastated Haiti on Jan. 12 measured a violent 7.0-magnitude, yet that quake caused over 200,000 deaths due to Haiti’s unpreparedness, weak infrastructure and unfamiliarity with seismic activity.
President Barack Obama commented on the earthquake Saturday morning, assuring that the United States would “be there should the Chilean people need help.”  
The earthquake also triggered tsunami alerts in all coastal areas of the Pacific Ocean, including Southern California. The Hawaiian and Japanese islands saw widespread alert and coastal evacuations as residents and officials feared a repeat scenario after Chile’s 9.5-magnitude quake in 1960 that sent deadly tsunami waves to both of the aforementioned areas. That quake is the largest recorded since 1900, ranking this Saturday’s at possibly number five.  
Recent earthquake activity in what is known as the Pacific Ring of Fire understandably causes alert in California and the Pacific Northwest. A 4.4-magnitude earthquake affected San Diego 42 miles southeast from its coast on Feb. 1, but no damage was reported. For information on disaster preparations, visit www.ready.gov.