Preparing for the worst: Earthquake in Chile shows how Haiti can protect itself
Posted by
hanna on 3/2/2010, 6:21 pm
Tuesday, March 2nd 2010, 4:00 AM
The powerful earthquake that shook Chile to its core on Saturday raises inevitable comparisons with the Jan. 12 temblor that wreaked unfathomable devastation in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2010/03/02/2010-03-02_preparing_for_the_worst.html#ixzz0h3YPd9Mq
For while the magnitude 8.8 quake that rocked the South American country was nearly 500 times more powerful, the death toll was somewhat less than 800, while the number of dead in Haiti topped 200,000.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2010/03/02/2010-03-02_preparing_for_the_worst.html#ixzz0h3YZywtr
Why such a difference in lives lost?
There are variations in plate tectonics, of course, as well as in emergency preparedness.
But the primary distinction appears to be in the building code.
After a major quake in 1985, the Chilean government imposed strict standards for making buildings earthquake-resistant. Relatively few structures collapsed entirely there - leaving millions homeless, but alive.
In Port-au-Prince, entire neighborhoods of hovels cropped up like mushrooms, and proved about as sturdy when the ground started to shake.
A quake in Kobe, Japan, in 1995 - geologically similar to Haiti's, but hitting an urban area prepared for the devastation - teaches a similar lesson. The death toll there: 5,000.
As Haiti oh-so-slowly rebuilds with the world's help, it must make sure its rebuilt structures are sturdy enough to protect its people.
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2010/03/02/2010-03-02_preparing_for_the_worst.html
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Preparing for the worst: Earthquake in Chile shows how Haiti can protect itself - hanna, 3/2/2010, 6:21 pm Post A Reply
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