March 14th, 2010

 Chile Earthquake And Aftershocks.  On March 11, 2010 three more quakes – or aftershocks – were felt.  These registered at 7.2, 6.9, and 6.0 on the Richter scale.

The aftershocks occured as the new president of the country was getting sworn into office.  Sebastian Pinera becomes the president of Chile after it was severly damaged by a monster earthquake.

Some estimates place the insured damages at $8 billion.  In addition over one million people have been displaced by the damages incurred by the quake.

About six weeks prior to the Chile earthquakes, Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince was almost leveled by its own quake.  Chile’s tremors were much stronger than those in Haiti, although they took place deeper in the earth’s core.

The quakes have also moved the earth off her axis and shortened the days.  It’s amazing how these natural disasters affect those even thousands of miles away.

The March 11 earthquakes spawned a tsunami alert, although no waves were felt.  The February 27 quake caused a tsunami in Hawaii, although there were no damages and no injuries sustained.

The former president Michelle Bachelet leaves with sky high approval ratings, despite multiple complaints that the Chilean government didn’t act swiftly enough in the aftermath of the disaster.

Rebuilding will take forever, but Chile has been through this before. In 1960 a stronger earthquake was experienced, and since then the building codes have attempted to ensure that structures are able to withstand earthquakes better.

Source:

NPR.com

Photo Credit: Morguefile.com free photo

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