Week 16: Final hazard report

Chile is exposed to various hazards, and they are all important to consider. Chile has problems with earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, floods, and a major drought. All of these hazards are dangerous; however, if we were to assess them by importance, then earthquakes and tsunamis are the most dangerous for Chile. This is due to its position on the Ring of Fire, which makes it very vulnerable to having seismic activity. Chile also lies on the South American plate, where it collides with the Nazca Plate. The Nazca plate subducts under the South American plate, which causes many earthquakes in the area. Since the Nazca plate is an ocean plate, this triggers the water movement that then turns into tsunamis. Thus, these reasons make Chile very prone to earthquakes and tsunamis that have impacted the country in many ways. 

Earthquakes and tsunamis have impacted Chile in negative ways. There have been a lot of economic losses due to them. There has been destruction of facilities and buildings. Many people have been injured and even died due to these events. An example of a horrible event was the largest earthquake that occurred in 1960 with a magnitude of 9.5. This is ranked as the worst earthquake ever. This earthquake triggered a tsunami that destroyed many buildings. Having life-threatening earthquakes is very serious to consider and prioritize because there is no way of stopping them. The convergent boundaries have impacted the continuous earthquakes that Chile has been having for many years. Consequently, Chile's position near the Nazca plate is constantly being subducted under the South American plate, creating many small earthquakes nearby.

Tsunamis end up being triggered by earthquakes, which create a greater threat because not only do people end up hurt with earthquakes, but many places end up getting destroyed by tsunamis.  Similar to the 1960 earthquake that destroyed homes. Chile had a life-threatening tsunami in 2010, where about 500 people died, and it was a very big economic loss for the country. This occurred in central Chile from a magnitude 8.8 earthquake that lasted three minutes. These heavy earthquakes will end up triggering dangerous tsunamis that will hurt the people and the country, and there should be mitigation efforts to help their citizens. 

In addition, some mitigation efforts that Chile could implement would be to have better earthquake technology to better prepare for a serious one, like the 1960 earthquake incident. Keeping their building codes up-to-date and making them stronger to better ensure the buildings are strong and safe for people, especially those in rural areas. Creating early tsunami warning signs will help ensure the sea level changes are at a safe level. For earthquakes, implementing quicker early warning alerts will help better prepare their citizens, such as through mobile phones and radios. Chile's infrastructure should be discontinued near coastlines because they are at greater risk of being destroyed by earthquakes and tsunamis. The most at-risk areas are coastlines, where many people will be the most at risk. Chile should consider supporting cities and towns that are already near the coastlines to become safer from these hazards. Since the country stretches about 4,000 kilometers, the cities near the coastlines should be prioritized, as well as low-elevation places near the coastlines. 

If I were to construct a house, I would place it away from the coastline because that is where the two tectonic plates meet, which is the most hazardous area in Chile. This would be very bad if a house were built near there because of the high earthquake and tsunami risk. Since Chile lies mainly on the coastline, the best areas to live are inland toward the east. This would be the best place, as well as the area being at a higher elevation level, to decrease the tsunami risk. The southern areas could also be an option since they have less earthquake risk. It has been said that the eastern communities in Las Condes near Chile's capital, Santiago, and Vitacura are safe places to live in Chile with little seismic activity. For that reason, I would construct my house in one of those cities that will be able to avoid these hazards. 

Sources: 

https://www.adrc.asia/view_disaster_en.php?NationCode=152&Lang=en&Key=1369#:~:text=The%20Government%20released%20a%20new,after%20the%20earthquake%20and%20tsunami%20.&text=The%20official%20death%20toll%20is,of%20missing%20people%20is%2079.&text=According%20to%20the%20Chilean%20National,with%2019%20people%20still%20missing.

https://www.redalyc.org/journal/1739/173957708002/html/#:~:text=The%20territory%20of%20Chile%20hosts,et%20al.%2C%202006).

https://ds.iris.edu/seismon/eventlist/index.phtml?region=S_America

https://www.britannica.com/science/plate-tectonics/Seafloor-spreading

https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/12chile/background/edu/purpose.html#:~:text=Chile%2C%20and%20the%20other%20countries,called%20the%20East%20Pacific%20Rise

https://www.earthscope.org/news/fast-and-slow-chiles-subduction-zone-moves-in-distinct-ways/#:~:text=In%20Chile%2C%20the%20South%20American,released%20seismically%20during%20large%20earthquakes

https://www.under30experiences.com/blog/is-chile-safe-to-travel-a-guide


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 2: Tectonic Plates

Image
Chile   The Country Chile sits on the South American Plate with the Nazca Plate to the left/ western side of the country and has a lower border with the Antarctic Plate. Chile is near many tectonic plates which makes it prone to natural disasters. Chile's fascinating fact is that it is on the Pacific Ring of Fire which is an area that has earthquakes and volcano eruptions. Chile is on the convergent boundary, meaning there is a collision between two plates. In this process, the Nazca Plate subducts under the South American Plate because of the softer and more delicate. The ocean plate of Nazca ends up going under the South American Plate because of the softer and more delicate layer. This pressure caused the formation of the Andes Mountains which South America is known for.  After noting the following tectonic plates and boundaries Chile is known for being prone to having major earthquakes that result in tsunamis or volcano eruptions. Due to subduction from the Nazca...
Read more

Week 1: Chile

Image
Chile Chile is a country located in Southern America on the western side of Argentina. It is a long and narrow country, meaning it has different climates along the country. It stretches from about 4,300 kilometers (2,671 miles) in length and 177 kilometers (110 miles) in width on average. It has many mountains around it with the Andes being in the country. The Andes are large mountains between Chile and Argentina that are very big and provide fresh water for people. Much of the population in the country lives in the central part of the country where the big cities are located. The capital of Chile is Santiago where the climate is cool and humid. Due to the country's length, the weather varies from the north to the south with different temperatures. The country relies on agricultural production and mining. This country is known for the Atacama Desert which is known to be the driest nonpolar desert in the world. Chile is a beautiful country with a blend of Spanish and indigenous cult...
Read more

Week 8: Mass Wasting

Image
 Chile's Mass Wasting  Chile does experience mass wasting due to its position on the Ring of Fire, but it is not only triggered by natural events like earthquakes, and heavy rain. Just gravity can have an effect on mass wasting! What is mass wasting? Mass wasting is when rocks, soil, or debris end up going downwards. This creates landslides, rockslides, mudslides, and even avalanches which are a part of mass wasting.  Chile has had many mass wasting activities from tectonic activities due to it being close to the Andes mountains. Earthquakes have triggered these mountains in the past.  An example of Chile having mass wasting was the Villa Santa Lucia mud landslide that occurred on December 16, 2017, in the southern area of Chile. What caused the deadly landslides was the heavy rainfall and weak land. This caused the mud to cause a lot of destruction to infrastructure and even resulted in 20 people dead. The president of Chile declared a disaster zone and ordered resc...
Read more