Fifth Largest Earthquake Hits Chile

On February 27th, 2010, the fifth largest earthquake struck south-central Chile. The earthquake registered 8.8 on the Richter scale, which is 1.8 points higher than that of the earthquake in Haiti, which measured 7.0 on the Ritcher scale. Though the earthquake was larger than the one in Haiti, it occured in a more remote area, hurting a significantly smaller number of civilians. Regardless, the earthquake still occured only 70 miles from Concepción, one of the largest cities in Chile. One day after the main earthquake, Concepción faced a strong afterstock, leaving many people injured and killing over 700 people. Compared to Haiti, this number is much smaller. In Haiti, 250,000 people were killed.

In Chile, more than 2 million people are recorded to have lost their homes due to the catastrophe. President Obama spoke with the President of Chile regarding the earthquake and humanitarian aid. President Obama stated that he “stands ready to assist the Chilean government's rescue and recovery efforts." Chile has not yet asked for assistance from the United States to aid them in recovery, though the offer remains. Additionally, the Chilean Red Cross has not asked for outside aid.

Chile, the richest country in South America, has become a capitalistic country, unlike Haiti. The country has invested much more money and used taxes toward the improvement of infrastructure. Haiti, on the other hand, is a poverty-stricken area that could not afford to invest in the upkeep of infrastructure. Do you think the fact that Chile has adopted capitalism as their form of government is the reason so many more lives were saved in this catastrophe? Also, do you think the United States will be as willing as they claim to aid a country who does not seem to need our help?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1242717/Haiti-hit-major-earthquake-measuring-7-0-Richter-scale.html
http://content.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3753701
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/world/americas/28chile.html?pagewanted=2
http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=522587h