Chile and Sichuan

Sichuan, China

A 7.9 earthquake hit Sichuan, China on May 12th 2008. The quake lasted for 2 minutes and was caused by a fault called the Longmenshan fault.

The quake killed 69,231 people (19,078 students), injuring 370,000 and leaving 4,800,000 homeless. Most of the schools, houses and other buildings were made of mud, which collapsed in the earthquake.

The government got 146.5 billion dollars to rebuild Sichuan, yet they only spent 137.5 billion rebuilding. The rest went to the parents of the killed students. The government refused to release the number of students killed, and payed the families 8,800$ to keep quiet.

Chile

On Feb. 27, 2010, a magnitude 8.8 earthquake hit Chile, lasting about 1.5 min. The epicenter was in the Maule region, and 11 aftershocks were reported. The focus of the quake was 22 miles underground.

The first estimated death toll was 214, yet the actual death toll was 723. Half a million homes were destroyed, and the fallen buildings caused fires on the road. The earthquake caused and tsunami in the pacific islands, that also threatened Hawaii.

Prisoners from a jail outside of Santiago took advantage of the quake to escape. 269 prisoners escaped, 28 were caught and 3 others were shot dead.

SICHUAN AND CHILE

The two earthquakes, in Chile and Sichuan, were both very deadly. Sichuan caused more damage and killed more people, yet Chiles had a larger magnitude. That is because Chile's focus was 22 miles deep and Sichuan's was not as deep. Therefore, the ripples in Sichuan were larger and more distructive.

SOURCES

• http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/02/27/us-quake-chile-idUSTRE61Q0S920100...
• http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/feb/27/chile-earthquake-tsunami
• http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-22398684
• http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/earthquakes/sichuan_provi...
• http://earthquake-report.com/2011/05/10/the-may-12-2008-deadly-sichuan-eart...