I'm sure the death toll will go up. And others will make the following point, I am sure. But the difference in death between Chile and Haiti is incredibly striking. And one further reason why those who happen to be unlucky enough to get themselves born into poverty and a poorly run country get hit from every conceivable angle. One can only come away from a comparison with the hideous thought of how preventable many of the Haiti deaths must have been.
And in answer to the question posed at Always Judged Guilty, I absolutely do not remember this advance notice for a tsunami. There is something so unnerving about knowing those giant waves are traveling and traveling. If I remember correctly, the tsunami of a few years ago had very poor advance notice. Let's hope the advance notice can actually allow people to get their act together to evacuate.
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20 hours ago
I think people are misreading it, the anticipation for the tsunami was not in the amount of people that would be hurt (there was no reason for anyone but an idiot who chooses to test a tsunami), the anticipation was in waiting for a huge wave to come crashing onto shore, there were enough inundation areas there to minimize property damage so even that wasn't an issue.
ReplyDeleteAs to Chile and Haiti, the earthquake in Haiti was much closer to the surface, and the one in Chile much deeper. Chile also has the Andes to absorb much of the damage, and they build everything much higher to code, however, if the 8.8 earthquake in Chile had been as near to the surface as it was in Haiti, the consequences would have made Haiti look like a minor tragedy in comparison.
charo
I was referring to the infrastructure, but I didn't know that about the depth. One of these days, when I have time, I'd love to learn more about geology.
ReplyDeletePlate tectonics!