A powerful 8.8 magnitude earthquake ripped through central Chile on the fateful morning of 27th February 2010. The epicenter was 100 kilometers north-northwest of Chile. The devastation was massive and economic and ecological impacts were debilitating. This paper attempts to present a detailed report on the aftershocks of the earthquake. A comprehensive discussion is expected to impart a holistic understanding of various consequences of this natural disaster.
Chilean earthquake, marked as the 5th strongest earthquake since 1900, significantly altered geographical boundaries. The city of Concepcion shifted around three meters to the west, and the capital Santiago moved eleven inches to the west-southwest. It was strong enough to shorten the normal day on earth by 1.26 microseconds, scientists reported.
Source: Reliefweb
The quake also unleashed devastating changes in the ecosystem by triggering a tsunami that reached about ten meters high. It wrecked havoc on the coastal community; sandy beaches of the nation experienced unprecedented uplift. The uplift created habitats that intertidal species colonized rapidly. Scientists have confirmed that it ruptured a long fault along the Chilean coast, and sunk the Earth's surface in the North. The stuff that was underwater before came up to the rocks. Estimates from the Chilean Government suggest that over 370,000 housing units were destroyed and close to 500 people lost their lives. More than 12.8 million people in the most affected parts were left in limbo. The majority of fatalities occurred in Maule, a wine-producing region in central Chile. Thousands of cars flattened, multi-storey buildings collapsed, and the fire broke out after gas lines ruptured. It is imperative to mention modern-built homes were more or less unaffected because of the nation's strong construction codes. Still, the overall havoc was intense enough to highlight the fury of nature and the impermanence of human lives.
Agricultural infrastructure was badly hit including wine, fish, and crops. The Chairman of agricultural chamber reported that around 125 million liters of cellared wine were lost as storage buildings in Maule, Colchagua, Maipo, and Casablanca crumbled. Tsunami and the quake together killed million of fishes and demolished fishing boats. Salmon industry witnessed a severe setback as delivery trucks were unavailable to transport fish to seaports.
Estimated economic loss was approximately 30 billion US dollars, out of which GDP loss and infrastructure loss stood at 7.6 and 20.9 billion US dollars respectively. Chile witnessed reduced economic growth in the first half of the year. It was unfortunate that the most affected parts had significant contribution in terms of GDP. Bio Bio, for instance, had a share of 10.4 percent in Chile's total GDP. Likewise, Maule and O' Higgins represented a share of 4 and 4.1 percent of total GDP respectively. These three regions together were also very crucial for manufacturing and agriculture-forestry sectors. Additionally, these were the hotbeds of one-third of electricity generation in the country. The sheer havoc in these areas aggravated the intensity of economic, infrastructure, as well as agricultural losses. Industrial effects included shutting down of copper production after the initial tremors. Though many of the copper mines restarted production as the power restored, widespread damages to highways and ports led to disruption in the delivery.
In addition to economic impacts, the quake had severe social repercussions as the loss of material goods, hospitals, bridges, and property reduced the overall quality of life. Belated response from authorities led to the moral deterioration of people, added Morras . Inadequate response created social disorder and havoc that favored undesirable behaviors as lootings and robberies in malls and supermarkets. The need for basic products and their unavailability deteriorated the overall social fabric of the country.
It is important to mention that literature has not demonstrated any permanent consequences except earth's deformations. The economy got a boost in the later half because of massive reconstruction in the country. The infrastructure of copper- the country's primary export commodity- remained overall intact( except some hiccups in initial few days) and acted as the main driver in supporting the reconstruction drive. There were some short-term impacts on external and fiscal balances that the government improved by altering economic policies accordingly. The Financial Times reported that the economy normalized and returned to growth in the third quarter of the year. Domestic spending drove growth to 0.8 percent; it was a welcome sign for the economy that is expected to grow further in the years to come.
Still, Scientists from the Cornell University have investigated that earth is permanently deformed due to earthquakes with magnitudes seven or above. It has resulted in a permanent crack in the Northern Chile. Though consequences of these deformations are not very clear, further researches are expected to pave the way for concrete outcomes.
References
American Red Cross. (2012). Report on the 2010 Chilean earthquake and Tsunami response. Retrieved Jan 11, 2017, from pubs.usgs.gov: https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2011/1053/of2011-1053.pdf
The University of Pennsylvania. (2010, May). The social, political, and economic aftershocks of the Chilean earthquake. Retrieved Jan 12, 2017, from knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu: http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/the-social-political-and-economic-aftershocks-of-the-chilean-earthquake/
