Posts Tagged ‘Chile Earthquake’

Chile’s Recovery from Earthquake Likely to Take Years

Sunday, March 14th, 2010
Seismically Active Pacific Ring of Fire

Seismically Active Pacific Ring of Fire

The earthquake that struck Chile on February 27 was an 8.8 magnitude event, making it one of the most powerful in history. The earthquake killed hundreds of people and damaged more than one million homes. Preliminary estimates suggest economic losses in excess of $15 billion, with one quarter to one half of those losses covered by insurance. Even without taking into consideration the consequences of the follow-on quakes, this is likely to be one of the most expensive disasters for the global insurance industry. Chile is at particular risk for its location along one of the most active seismic zones in the world, the Pacific Ring of Fire. During my lifetime, Chile has experienced 13 earthquakes of at least a 7.0 magnitude, but most were removed from populated areas. Chile is well prepared to withstand earthquake shocks; it has appropriate building codes and a developed insurance market Indeed, even though the Chilean quake was 500 times more forceful than that of Haiti, it sustained several hundred casualties as compared with 250,000 in Haiti. It will likely take at least four years for the Chile to rebuild, owing to significant losses to its economy. With a recent seismic event in Turkey, this is a sad reminder that natural disasters pose the greatest risks to those with the least to lose.