April 4, 2014 -- Updated 1053 GMT (1853 HKT)
Strict building codes and the preparedness of millions of Chileans who
live along an arc of volcanoes and fault lines likely kept the death
toll low. FULL STORY
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Experts: Strict building codes saved lives in powerful Chile earthquake
April 3, 2014 -- Updated 1904 GMT (0304 HKT)
Death toll low in Chilean quake
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: 7.6-magnitude aftershock strikes late Wednesday
- Quake triggered small landslides, cut power and generated a tsunami
- President: "The country has faced these first emergency hours very well"
- About 300 prisoners escaped in the northern port city of Iquique, but 131 surrendered
Officials said four of
those whose deaths were blamed on the quake late Tuesday that triggered
landslides, power outages, and a tsunami suffered heart attacks, while
two others were crushed.
"They're a seismically
active region of the world and they are very good at implementing their
building codes similar to California," John Bellini, a Denver-based
geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey told CNN on Wednesday.
He added, "Because of
that, you would see less damage than in other places that have poorer
building codes .... that's probably one of the reasons there haven't
been as many casualties as there could have been from a magnitude
earthquake of this size."
Nearly 928,000 people were evacuated, said Ricardo Toro, director of Chile's office of national emergency.
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More than 2,500 homes
sustained serious structural damage in the region around the northern
port city of Iquique, the mayor of Alto Hospicio, Ramon Galleguillos,
told reporters. Most of the homes were built with poor workmanship
through government subsidies, Galleguillos said. Alto Hospicio is about a
mile from Iquique, 60 miles southeast from the epicenter of the quake.
A 7.6-magnitude aftershock struck the region late Wednesday. There was no immediate word on damage or injuries.
Chilean President
Michelle Bachelet, who toured the region Wednesday, praised local
authorities for responding in an "exemplary manner" to a powerful
earthquake and the tsunami that followed.
"This is a great example
to all of us that when we work together in an adequate manner and we
when we follow the plans that have been established in the region, we
work well," Bachelet said.
Chile is in one of the most earthquake-prone regions in the world.
The country sits on an
arc of volcanoes and fault lines circling the Pacific Ocean known as the
"Ring of Fire," according to Mark Simons, a geophysicist at Caltech in
Pasadena, California. This area sees frequent earthquakes and volcanic
eruptions. Since 1973, Chile has had more than a dozen quakes of
magnitude-7.0 and above.
Simons said Tuesday's
quake occurred as the fault line along Chile's coast has constantly
shifted in the last 140 years. In recent weeks, this area has seen a
cluster of activity -- something like 50 to 100 smaller quakes. Then,
late last month, a 6.7- and a 6.1-magnitude quake struck.
The keys to surviving the big ones
Chile has over the years implemented strict building codes and rigorous evacuation plans, experts said.
"People are more
familiar with them," Bellini said of the temblors. "They, in general,
know what to do as part of their daily lives, plus the building codes
are fairly well-enforced in Chile. It's in their culture."
In February 2010, about
500 people died when an 8.8-magnitude earthquake hit. That quake was so
violent, it moved one whole Chilean city about 10 feet west.
One month earlier, the importance of strict building codes was underscored when Port-au-Prince, Haiti, was hit by a magnitude-7.0 earthquake that leveled 70% of the Haitian capital's structures and killed at least 230,000 people.
"That's actually a
perfect example of the differences in building codes and enforcement in
two different regions," Bellini said. "Any place that has a magnitude 7
or an 8 is going to have some kind of damage. However, the building
codes play a large part in the damage and destruction that is seen, as
well as the casualty level. Population density plays an important part
as well -- but the building codes are really what can save lives in
areas that have large earthquakes."
In a 2011 report, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction credited Chile's "strict building codes" with playing "a large part in protecting people."
"The key to surviving
high magnitude quakes is to live and work in seismically safe buildings,
while being aware of how nature around us can also change," Margareta
Wahlstrom, U.N. special representative of the secretary-general for
disaster risk reduction, said in the report.
The report found that
Haiti's quake, which struck closer to the surface than in Chile, was "no
match for the homes and buildings."
"In Haiti, in addition
to [lack of strict] building codes, you have a population that doesn't
have a regular historical experience of large quakes like this," Bellini
said. "Last time there was a quake in Haiti that size was 100 plus
years ago and they don't have large regular seismic activity plus the
building codes are not there."
He added, "In Chile,
they're better prepared. Whether it's in their mind every single moment
of the day, I'm sure it's not. But in general, their infrastructure and
their population is much more prepared for it."
Steven Godby, an expert
in disaster management at Nottingham Trent University in England,
praised the Chile's disaster preparedness, saying an estimated 500,000
people participated in a drill in May 2012 in the coastal region of
Valparaiso.
"The government of Chile
has been working hard to improve the awareness of people living along
the coast to the threat from tsunamis and on what to do if one is
approaching," Godby said in a statement. "Several tsunami drills have
taken place since the tsunami that killed an estimated 500[-plus]
Chileans in February 2010 and recent earthquakes in the region have
helped to keep the threat firmly in people's minds."
Inmates turn themselves in after temblor
In Chile on Tuesday, landslides damaged roads in some regions. Power and phone outages were reported in others.
The tsunami following the quake was similar to "high tide," Galleguillos added.
Bachelet huddled with
regional authorities as images broadcast from the affected region showed
deep cracks across paved roads and a crumpled coastline strewn with
beached boats.
Bachelet said Chile
faced the "first emergency hours very well" and Defense Minister Jorge
Burgos said things were calm on Wednesday.
He said the military had been dispatched throughout the quake zone to ensure safety.
Some 300 relief personnel were deployed in Iquique, which has a population of more than 200,000, Burgos said.
Of 293 inmates who escaped from prison in Iquique, 131 had turned themselves in voluntarily.
Although the temblor was powerful, geologists say an even larger quake could be lurking.
"This magnitude, 8.2, is
not the large earthquake that we were expecting in this area," said
Simons. "We're expecting a potentially even larger earthquake."
It could be tomorrow. Or it could come in 50 years.
"We do not know when it's going to occur," he said.
The quake struck around 8:46 p.m. local time and had a depth of 12.5 miles, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
The Pacific Tsunami
Warning Center issued several warnings but canceled them by early
Wednesday. Tsunami watches initially extended as far north as Mexico's
Pacific Coast were called off as well.
Tsunami waves of more
than 6 feet washed ashore on the coast of Pisagua, said the center's
Victor Sardino. Iquique saw 7-foot waves.
An earthquake of the
scale that struck Tuesday night is capable of causing tremendous damage.
So if the initial reports stand, Chile may have dodged a catastrophe.
On March 16, a
6.7-magnitude quake struck about 37 miles west-northwest of Iquique. A
6.1-magnitude quake hit the same area a week later.
CNN's Emma Lacey-Bordeaux, Dana Ford and Saeed Ahmed contributed to this report.
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