The horrific earthquake that struck Chile on Saturday has levelled towns and caused widespread flooding in some areas, while other regions are completely untouched.

 

 

 

Santiago, Pucon, Futaleufu and other higher elevation places are mostly unscathed, a paddler in Chile reported to Playak yesterday. But the "Maule and Biobio regions are very damaged, especially the coastal places."

The quake measured 8.8-magnitude, 500 times stronger than the recent Haiti earthquake, but the U.S. Geological Survey reported that the Chile tremors originated 22 miles beneath the earth's surface, versus just 6 miles in Haiti, making the effects less devestating than in the Caribbean nation.

Originating below the Biobio region and lasting three minutes, the quake has so far caused more than 700 casualties, and that number is expected to rise. Chilean President Michelle Bachelet has declared a state of catastrophe in central Chile, and rescue and recovery efforts are continuing this morning. The country has also deployed 10,000 troops to control looting of supermarkets in the most devestated areas.

Seismically active Chile is no stranger to the ravages of earthquakes. "Since 1973 they've had 13 earthquakes over 7.7 magnitude," Paul Earle, a seismologist from the U.S. Geological Survey, told ABC News yesterday. Chile also has the record for the world's strongest recorded earthquake — a 9.5-magnitude quake that struck in 1960.

Buildings in Chile are built with earthquakes in mind, and with these stronger building codes, better infrastructure and a more effective government, the recovery effort in Chile is likely to go easier than it has in Haiti.

Read breaking news on the recovery in Chile at http://topics.abcnews.go.com/page/Chile-Earthquake


Photo courtesy Wikipedia