A diverse range of extreme natural events have affected Chile, however, earthquakes are probably the most remarkable. Most of the historical records (CREDEN, 2016) highlight earthquakes as they somehow represent ‘milestones’ in the history of Chile.
Many Chileans still have fresh memories of the Great Maule earthquake of February 27, 2010, and some of them remember where they were when great earthquakes occurred in 1960 (Valdivia) and 1985 (Central Chile). Elderly Chileans may still remember the 1939 earthquake in Chillán. Earthquakes and disasters have been recurrent throughout Chilean history.
Located in the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, Chile is one of the most seismic regions in the world (EM-DAT, 2017). Chile sees the convergence of the Nazca plate and the South American continental plate, causing periodic earthquakes of varying magnitudes that sometimes trigger significant disasters. Thus, earthquakes and disasters have become part of the collective identity of Chileans (Ugarte and Salgado, 2014), being registered in popular culture through the oral tradition prior to the Spanish conquest in the sixteenth century (BNC, 2014).
According to Foerster (1995), prior to the Spanish Empire colonisation, indigenous peoples wove a network of symbolic and religious interpretations about earthquakes and disasters. In the Mapuche culture —the largest in the country— earthquakes and disasters were perceived as manifestations of a cosmic imbalance that must be recovered by offerings to gods and rites to the spirits of ancestors. As such, during the first decades of the conquest, the Spaniards may have felt the devastating effects of seismic activity itself in the region. In May 1647, the largest earthquake in colonial chronicles occurred, highlighting that the city of Santiago was reduced to rubble while it deepened an important economic crisis initiated in previous years (Amunátegui, 1882). A similar observation was documented during the 1751 earthquake in Concepción, the capital city of the Bio-Bio Region. This
disaster even prompted the relocation of the city. Records from the National Library of Chile (BNC 2014) also suggest that people mainly attributed earthquakes to someone’s will and disasters as divine punishments.
In the early twentieth century, one of the most disastrous earthquakes in the new Republican era occurred. Grossi (1907) documented the destruction of the city of Valparaiso and thousands of human losses. Similar negative effects were registered for the disasters of Atacama’s earthquake in 1922 and the earthquake in Talca in 1928 (BNC, 2014). The Talca disaster urged authorities and worker unions to implement disaster management and risk reduction measures: the first standards for anti-seismic construction of buildings and for the identification of disaster prone areas (Presidencia de la Republica de Chile, 1936).
In 1939, yet another earthquake struck which affected the city of Chillán and the entire surrounding region. It caused about 30,000 deaths and provoked the destruction of almost the entire city (Reyes Coca, 1999). As a result, the central government created an institutional body under Law Nº6.434 called Corporation for Reconstruction, Relief and Production Development, which supported the government in planning and executing reconstruction projects throughout the country while promoting industrial development in all regions. These two objectives were combined because, by the 1940s, Chile was going through a process of industrialisation (Montecinos, 2005).
In most of the historical records kept by the Chilean government and the media following the 1960 Valdivia disaster,9 attention was placed on the impacts and the costs of reconstruction, reinforcing the idea of the Chilean people’s resistance against the forces of nature. Valdivia suffered one of the most devastating episodes in Chilean history. According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS, 2014), the May 22, 1960, registered ‘the largest earthquake in the world’ with a moment magnitude recording of 9.5 (Mw), causing extensive devastation in the provinces of Cautín, 9 A list of media records consulted for this disaster is in Appendix 5.
Valdivia, Osorno, Llanquihue and Chiloé. This was accompanied by a tsunami that caused a series of waves that swept away coastal cities. According to government records (BNC, 2014), figures estimated a death toll of 1,655, a further 3,000 injured, two million homeless, and US$550 million in damage, causing further social impact and high costs in damage to neighbouring countries (see Table 4.1).
Table 4.1. Impacts in neighbouring countries of the 1960 Great Valdivia earthquake
Location Economic loss Human loss
Hawaii US$ 75 million 61 deaths
Japan US$ 50 million 138 deaths
Philippines No information available 32 deaths + missing people US West Coast US$ 500,000 No deaths registered Compiled by the author (2017), based on ompiled by the author (2017), based on La Nación (May 28, 1960) and USGS (2014)1960) and USGS (2014)
According to newspaper records and press releases of the time, this earthquake sank some areas to such an extent that they ended up being completely submerged (see Figures 4.2 and 4.3): it caused several landslides, and it initiated the eruption of the Puyehue volcano on May 23 the same year, which sent ash and steam as high as 6,000 metres in the sky for several weeks (BNC, 2014).
Figure 4.2. Areas flooded by the 1960 Chilean tsunami in Maullín (near to Valdivia)
Broken road 30 5 5 15 20 10 15 15 Pacific Ocean Maullín River N 105 2 15 In Inland lim it land limit of tsunami of tsunami Broken road
Maximum height of tsunami, in feet above sea level Deaths from tsunami
10 105 Pacific Ocean View in photo N Low marshy plain 0 5 MILES 0 5 KILOMETERS Low sandy plain High ground RíoMa ullín Valdivia Valdivia Source: USGS (1999)
Figure 4.3. Ships and factories destroyed by the 1960 Great Valdivia earthquake
Source: Castedo (2000, p.74)
La Nación newspaper headlines the words of Pierre Lehmann —in charge of the reconstruction at the time—: “The battle of Riñihue is occurring on four fronts, and it is almost a victory”, in reference to floods that were occurring in Riñihue in the Valdivia province. Pierre Lehmann asserts: “Engineers and workers are fighting to reduce the impacts of floods [...] their fight is against nature and time” (La Nación, June 10, 1960, p.1; see Figure 4.4). On June 22, 1960, the headline of the newspaper El Correo de Valdivia was: “The Image of Valdivia is painful and depressing [...] Despite the efforts made by people and the government, it looks like this time nature has really struck us hard”. These assertions and headlines reflect the general idea in Chile that disasters and their impacts were about a ‘fight’ and ‘struggle’ against nature’s will (Gould et al., 2016).
Figure 4.4. La Nación’s headline, June 10, 1960
Source: La Nación, June 10, 1960 (other newspapers reviewed are listed in Appendix 5)
In an interview in May 1960, President Jorge Alessandri referred to the Valdivia disaster and spoke to the affected population:
“The president of the nation visits the south [...] he highlights the wholeness of Chilean people that faced the event and their capacity to resist [...] Earthquakes do not distinguish between men and women, adults and children [...] Nobody doubts that the temper of Southern men will be able to resist future disasters and to recover from this”.
(La Nación, May 24, 1960) This reaffirms the narrative of politicians on disasters as a ‘struggle’ against nature, where our only hope resides in the individual and collective capacity to react and resist. A quick revision of the government’s press releases after the 1960 Valdivia earthquake confirm the general reference to a ‘force of nature’ and men’s strength to resist such events (see Appendix 5).
More recently, the disaster triggered by the 2010 Maule earthquake is of particular interest because its magnitude, its level of destruction, and its economic and human
costs (Han, 2010; Navia, 2010; Volk, 2010). A few hours after the earthquake, President Bachelet was quoted as saying:
“We are facing a massive catastrophe which has caused damage that will require an enormous effort by both the public and private sectors, one of the largest [efforts] in the history of the country. […] Once again our ability to deal with adversity and get back on our feet [is tested]. And we are examining every way to restore all the basic services in the country”.
(Bachelet, 2010, translated by Gould et al., 2016) Bachelet addressed the nation, pointing out that the disaster was tragic and serious but at the same time limited and manageable. According to Gould et al. (2016), this and other statements rely on a formulation already familiar to Chileans: “the state as possessing the human, economic, and technical resources to overcome great challenges, including national/natural disasters” (Gould et al., 2016, p.100). This reaffirms the narrative of politicians and the elite about the mainstream view in the Chilean history of disaster, which restricts the causes of disasters to natural factors. In her May 21 Speech of 2015, Bachelet remembered the 2008 Chaitén volcanic eruption to point out the success of the different institutions in coping with such extreme events: “Chaitén is a successful case where all institutions worked together to protect the population” (Presidential May 21 Speech, May 2015). This perspective is mainly supported by the fact that no fatalities were registered during the eruption. However, this neglects determinant aspects of risk and disaster, such as the role of the economy and politics that influence people’s capacity to resist and recover from disasters (Wisner et al., 2004). Once more, political rhetoric and historical records emphasise the number of deaths and other material impacts such as destroyed houses. Rarely is attention paid to the socio-economic and political pre-conditions that situated men and women in disaster prone areas or make them more vulnerable to disasters in the first place.