EARTHQUAKE IN CHILE
On the 14th November 2007, 12.40 p.m. local time, a powerful earthquake hit Northern Chile. The 7.7 magnitude disaster occurred in a remote area of the country, 170 kilometers (105 miles) north of the port city of Antofagasta. .
The Nazca plate and the South American plate meet along the edge of the continent. The Nazca plate which is under the ocean is heavier than the South American plate that houses the continent. The Nazca plate slides eastwards beneath the South American plate, forcing the lighter plate upwards. This subduction process is slow and steady in some locations, but gets stuck in others. Stress eventually builds up where the two plates are locked together until the rock reaches a breaking point. The fracture causes a sudden shift that sends shockwaves through the surrounding rock creating an earthquake.
Due to the earthquake, power lines were knocked down, many buildings collapsed and major cracks occurred in the runways of Antofagasta Airport, leaving 15,000 homeless. Hospitals, schools, and other public buildings sustained moderate to severe damages. Highways and urban roads suffered slight damage due to landslides and rock falls.
The government quickly evacuated the people in several cities within Chile and sounded off a tsunami warning. Though the warning was cancelled subsequently, but the fact that they bothered to release it to ensure the people’s safety was what really matters. It was not worth taking the risk thinking a tsunami might not happen and ended up having more deaths and damages.
To minimize damages from such catastrophes, towns, settlements and infrastructure should be situated in low-risk areas. At home, families should take precautions like repairing deep cracks in ceilings or foundations etc and identifying safe places both indoors and outdoors and always have disaster supplies in hand.
The level of preparedness of the public is important. Although they may be alarmed and worried initially but the repetitive nature of phenomena would soon make them become habituated to these events and manage the emergencies more effectively.
earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=19354
Jesse Allen
Terra-STER
ASTER Science Team
earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/eqinthenews/2007/us2007jsat/
www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/LRON-79FEDN?OpenDocument&rc=2&emid=EQ-2007-000207-CHL
Source:http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?content=w111445A
Posted by BritterZ at 12:17 PM 
All information extracted on 12 February 2010
Janessa Soh
1 Diligence
21/2/10
