Yes, the quake that struck the coast of Chile this morning was about 100 times stronger than the quake that devastated Port-au-Prince in early January. But initial reports put the death toll in the very low three digits—120 as I’m writing this. And while that number is certain to climb in the hours and days ahead, no one is expecting the calamitous destruction and loss of life that we’ve seen in Haiti, where 230,000 are already dead. How can that be?
A few reasons. First and most obvious, the construction in Chile is far better than construction in Haiti. A popular saying among seismologists is that “earthquakes don’t kill people, buildings do.” Chile’s buildings are better built, with better materials, higher-skilled laborers, and an eye toward earthquake resistance. They are therefore more earthquake-resistant. Many fewer of them collapsed, so fewer people died.
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