Contenido

El terremoto ocurrió en el borde convergente entre la placa de Nazca y la placa Sudamericana. En la región en que tuvo lugar el terremoto, las placas convergen a un ritmo de unos 68 mm/año.[15]​ El terremoto estuvo caracterizado por un mecanismo focal de falla inversa causado por la subducción de la placa de Nazca por debajo de la Sudamericana.

Las costas de Chile tienen una historia de grandes terremotos originados por esta frontera de placas, como el terremoto de Valdivia de 1960, el más fuerte de la historia entre los registrados mediante sismógrafos, llegando a una magnitud de 9,5 en la escala sismológica de magnitud de momento, conocida erróneamente como escala de Richter.[16]​ Se estima que la zona de falla que se desplazó en este terremoto tenía una longitud de 640 km de largo, y se encontraba inmediatamente al norte del segmento de 960 km que dio origen al terremoto de 1960.[17]​.

La zona más afectada, entre las ciudades de Constitución "Constitución (Chile)") y Concepción "Concepción (Chile)"), aproximadamente entre los 35° y los 37° de latitud Sur, había sido considerada por los expertos como un sector de alta probabilidad de ocurrencia de un sismo de gran magnitud. La zona era considerada una laguna sísmica debido a la ausencia de un terremoto importante desde 1835, aun cuando la frecuencia de estos es cercana a los 60 años; en sectores aledaños, en tanto, la energía acumulada por la subducción de las placas ya había sido liberada por el norte con el terremoto de Santiago de 1985 y por el sur con el de Valdivia de 1960. La laguna sísmica generada en la costa del centro y sur de Chile era similar a la situación del extremo norte de Chile y el “gran terremoto” esperado en dicha zona por décadas.[14]​.

Estudios ulteriores sobre este terremoto han llegado a la conclusión de que, en estricto rigor, se trató de dos zonas de ruptura, en un evento asimétrico bilateral. Las dos direcciones de ruptura fueron N171°E (hacia el norte) y N17°E (hacia el sur), con longitudes de 313 y 118 km respectivamente. Se trata entonces de un total de más de 430 kilómetros, en dos rupturas independientes, lo que podría explicar las divergencias iniciales para determinar el epicentro.[18]​.

Durante más de 170 años, la subducción de la placa de Nazca bajo la Sudamericana estuvo retenida sin poder liberar la energía acumulada a través de un evento sísmico. Así, se acumuló una diferencia de hasta 10 metros entre el desplazamiento esperado de las placas y el real. Ante dicha situación, un grupo de sismólogos publicó en junio de 2009 que un terremoto de magnitud entre 8 y 8,5 debía ocurrir “en el futuro cercano”.[15]​.

main earthquake

At 03:34:12 local time (UTC-3), the violent earthquake occurred. According to the Seismological Service of Chile, the hypocenter was located 30.1 km deep under the Pacific Ocean, at point , located 12.5 kilometers from the Chilean coast and 17 kilometers from the town of Cobquecura, in the province of Ñuble "Province of Ñuble (1974-2018)") of the Biobío Region; The magnitude was estimated at 8.8 according to the seismological moment magnitude scale.[3] Meanwhile, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) estimated that the earthquake originated in a town a little further north, located in , 8 kilometers west of Curanipe, in the province of Cauquenes, Maule Region, with a magnitude of 8.8 on the moment magnitude scale. The USGS determined that the hypocenter was located 35 kilometers deep.[1]​

On the other hand, scientists determined that the first displacement of the earthquake originated between the towns of Trehuaco and Coelemu.[19]​.

The violence of the earthquake produced a redistribution of the land mass. According to NASA scientists, a change occurred in the planet's rotation, making the day shorter by 1.26 microseconds and tilting the Earth's axis by 2.7 milliseconds of arc, equivalent to 8 centimeters.[20] Studies using global positioning systems calculated that the city of Concepción moved 3.04 m to the west as a result of the earthquake, while in Santiago the displacement was close to 27.7 cm; Buenos Aires even moved 4 cm to the west, even though it is located more than 1,300 km away from the epicenter, and movements were recorded in areas as far away as the Malvinas Islands and the Brazilian city of Fortaleza "Fortaleza (Brazil)").[21]​.

In the Biobío Region and part of the Maule Region, the earthquake was perceived as having ruinous characteristics, reaching IX on the Mercalli seismological scale that measures the intensity of telluric events. In the northern sector of the Maule it was felt with intensity VIII, classified as "destructive", as well as in the Metropolitan regions of Santiago, O'Higgins, and the province of San Antonio in the Valparaíso Region.

Replicas

Almost immediately after the earthquake, aftershocks "Aftershock (seismology)") of different intensities began to occur located in Chilean territory. In the following 24 hours, more than a hundred of these aftershocks had already occurred, some of them of great intensity, the strongest being one that occurred less than two hours from the main event and which reached a magnitude of 6.9. Another of the most notable aftershocks was the one that occurred at 8:25 local time on Sunday the 28th, which had its epicenter on the coast of the O'Higgins Region and was felt from Valparaíso to Concepción "Concepción (Chile)"), reaching a magnitude of 6.2. As a consequence of these aftershocks, many of the houses that had been damaged by the main earthquake collapsed permanently.[23] A new aftershock of magnitude greater than 6, which occurred on March 3, generated shock in the population in conjunction with a tsunami alert, raised shortly after; As of that date, 203 aftershocks exceeding magnitude 4.9 had already been recorded.[24]​.

Some aftershocks of the Chilean earthquake occurred in Argentina. The tremors recorded in the provinces of Salta were particularly intense, where two deaths were recorded as a result of the tremors, and San Juan and Mendoza, where they reached high intensity. Lesser magnitude tremors were also recorded in the provinces of Neuquén, Río Negro, Chubut, Córdoba "Province of Córdoba (Argentina)"),[57]​ La Pampa,[58]​ and in Buenos Aires.[6]​.

The nature of a "replica" of the earthquake registered in Salta, however, was questioned due to its geological characteristics, different from that of the Cobquecura earthquake.[59]​ A similar event occurred with an earthquake of magnitude 6.3, recorded on March 4, 65 kilometers from the Chilean city of Calama in the II Region of Antofagasta.[60]​ The proximity of both epicenters (397 kilometers) and the great relative distance of both With respect to the main earthquake (more than 1,400 kilometers), it suggests the existence of an independent seismic focus in the area,[61]​ although the great difference in the depth of both telluric events (105.1 km for the Calama event and 9.5 km for the Salta event) again relativizes that relationship.

Meanwhile, the Southern Andes Volcanological Observatory (OVDAS) detected anomalous behavior in some Chilean volcanoes that began after the main earthquake occurred. Given this, the OVDAS decreed a yellow alert on the Llaima volcano and restricted ascent to the Villarrica volcano, as precautionary measures.[62]​.

March 2010 earthquake

On Thursday, March 11, almost two weeks after the main earthquake occurred, a strong seismic movement was felt at 11:39 (local time) in the central sector of Chile, covering practically the same areas affected by the February 27 earthquake. The event reached a magnitude of 6.9 on the seismological moment magnitude scale and its epicenter was located on land, about 9 kilometers east of the coastline, in the province of Cardenal Caro, in the Region of Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins.[63]​.

As an anecdotal fact, that day and at that same time the Change of Command Ceremony was taking place in the National Congress, in which the outgoing president Michelle Bachelet handed the presidential sash to Sebastián Piñera, an occasion that put the etiquette and composure of the participants and the illustrious guests, among whom were several South American presidents and the heir to the Crown of Spain, in serious trouble.[64]

This seismic movement and those perceived below were initially considered to be aftershocks of the February 27 earthquake. However, seismological analyzes of the wave patterns and hypocenter locations determined that they referred to an independent event, although it is highly likely that this event was greatly influenced by the changes in tectonic stresses generated by the first earthquake. While the earthquake with its epicenter off Cobquecura was produced by a thrust faulting between the two plates, the events of March 11 occurred as a normal (extensional) fault within the South American plate.[63][65][66]​.

In the hours following the 11:39 earthquake, a series of aftershocks occurred with eleven seismic movements with a magnitude greater than 5.0 and two with a magnitude greater than 6.0. Furthermore, the first of these three earthquakes generated a preventive tsunami alert for all urban areas located between the Coquimbo Region and the Los Lagos Region, causing chaos and collective hysteria in the population of cities such as La Serena "La Serena (Chile)"), Coquimbo, Valparaíso and Viña del Mar, which concentrate the largest population in the low coastal area in the alert section.[67][68]​.

Replicas from January 2011

On January 2, 2011, more than 10 months after the main event, a strong earthquake was felt between the Biobío and Los Lagos regions at 5:20 p.m. (local time). The earthquake had its epicenter near the town of Tirúa, on the border between the regions of Biobío and La Araucanía, with a magnitude of 7.1 M. The seismic movement did not report damage or fatalities, producing only temporary outages in the electrical supply in some sectors. In coastal towns, the population evacuated to safe areas spontaneously due to fear of a possible tsunami in towns such as Tirúa and Puerto Saavedra, although in the end the event did not occur.

Despite the time that has passed since the main earthquake, seismologists affirm that it was just another aftershock and even in telluric events of similar magnitude, such as the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, aftershocks were recorded up to 3 years later.[69] In various localities in the O'Higgins and Maule regions, strings of aftershocks of magnitude between 4.0 and 5.0 were recorded a few hours before and in the hours following the largest aftershock. strong, constituting an event called seismic swarm.[70]​.

Replicas from February 2011

On February 11, 2011, 16 days before one year after the main earthquake, an earthquake was recorded that reached a preliminary magnitude of 7 on the moment magnitude scale—later corrected to 6.8—whose epicenter was located 45 kilometers north of Concepción "Concepción (Chile)") and at a depth of 18.4 kilometers. Preventively, and according to Radio Bío-Bío, the inhabitants of Dichato were evacuated to higher sectors of the town. Power outages, collapse of telephone lines and traffic jams were recorded in the capital city of the Biobío Region where, according to the first reports, the tremor was felt most violently.[71] A preventive tsunami alert was issued to the coastal area of ​​the Biobío, Maule and La Araucanía regions. Between February 11 and 13, more than 50 earthquakes of moderate to high intensity were felt in the Biobío Region, highlighting four of these over magnitude 6.0 in addition to other mild earthquakes in the same period in the regions of Coquimbo and Valparaíso.[72]​.

March 2012 Replica

On March 25, 2012, an aftershock of the 2010 earthquake was generated, which reached a magnitude of 7.1 M. Its epicenter was located in the Maule Region, 24 km northeast of the city of Constitución "Constitución (Chile)"). The earthquake occurred at 7:37 p.m. local time and had a maximum magnitude of VIII on the Mercalli scale in the towns near the epicenter. The earthquake was felt from the Coquimbo Region to the Los Lagos Region; The greatest strength of the movement was registered in the Metropolitan regions of Santiago, O'Higgins, El Maule and Biobío. The National Emergency Office of Chile issued a preventive tsunami warning for the coasts of Maule, thus evacuating more than 7,000 people from the coastline of that region of the country.[73] In addition, there were house collapses, minor damage to structures, and panic among people who were in shopping centers and places of recreation at that time. In Santiago, some injuries were reported due to the fall of masonry from the Maipú Votive Temple and a movie theater at the Mall Florida Center. In the city of Parral "Parral (Chile)") an elderly man died as a result of cardiac arrest caused by the impact of the earthquake.[74]​.

On March 26, the acting Minister of the Interior Rodrigo Ubilla, accompanied by the Ministers of Health (Jaime Mañalich) and Housing and Urban Planning (Magdalena Matte) traveled to the Maule area to verify the state of the infrastructure of the places and verify possible damage, otherwise it was confirmed that the hospitals in the area withstood the movement in good conditions, with the exception of the Constitución Hospital, which had to be reviewed by calculating engineers.[75]​ The level The expansion of the tremor made it perceptible in some localities in Argentina, as it was in the city of Mendoza.[76]​ This same telluric movement caused nervousness in the people who at that moment were witnessing the soccer match between the Colo-Colo and Palestino teams, which was played in the Monumental Stadium of Santiago "Estadio Monumental (Chile)"), causing many people to even leave the venue during the game, which was never stopped.[77]​.

In the educational field, the authorities were forced to suspend classes for Monday, March 26 in the commune of Constitución, since many families until Monday morning still remained in safe areas due to fear of a possible outflow of the sea, added to the cut of water and electricity supplies, which were replaced during the day.[78] Despite everything, it was only a 50 cm high storm surge that hit the Maule and Bíobío region.

Due to the underwater location of the epicenter and its proximity to the coast, much of the damage was caused by the tsunami associated with the seismic movement over the coastal towns. This mass of water hit the Chilean coast at high speed in a few minutes, reaching the coastal towns of the Maule and Biobío regions. In Constitución "Constitución (Chile)"), the first wave of the tsunami arrived about half an hour after the main earthquake, which according to witnesses exceeded eight meters in height, being followed a few minutes later by a second stronger wave of about ten meters and finally a third, similar to the first.[79] The sea entered towns such as Pelluhue and Curanipe, exceeding 150 meters inland in Pichilemu, Iloca, Duao and up to 200 meters in Coi Coi. In the port of Talcahuano, waves of up to 5 meters penetrated the city center and the sea level rose above 2.4 meters.[80]​ The port of Valparaíso faced a rise of 1.7 meters in the ocean level.[79]​.

The tsunami spread across much of the South Pacific. One of the most affected areas was insular Chile and, in particular, the Juan Fernández archipelago, where the waves entered more than 300 meters into the town of San Juan Bautista "San Juan Bautista (Chile)"), on Robinson Crusoe Island, one hour after the earthquake.[81] On Easter Island, the population managed to be evacuated, but finally the tsunami did not impact with great force, the sea rising only 0.35 meters more than six hours after the earthquake.

For its part, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center generated a tsunami warning for much of the Pacific Ocean coast. A total of 53 countries were alerted,[13]​ although in the end the effects were less than expected. The tsunami impacted the coasts of Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Costa Rica with a rise in sea level that did not exceed half a meter. In Hiva'Oa, one of the Marquesas islands, belonging to French Polynesia, the rise reached 1.79 meters, being the record of the largest tsunami outside of Chile. The effect of the Chilean tsunami reached Hawaii, reaching nearly a meter of increase in water level, and the coasts of California and New Zealand.[82] Finally, on February 28, the last effects of the tsunami were detected on the Japanese island of Minamitorishima, where the sea rose just 10 centimeters.[83]​.

• - Arrival times of the tsunami in the Pacific.

• - Changes in sea level detected in Lima, Peru.

• - A beach closed due to a tsunami warning, in Sydney, Australia.

• - Kiosks destroyed after the arrival of the tsunami in Pichilemu, O'Higgins, Chile.

El efecto del terremoto, debido a su alta magnitud, fue devastador. Gran parte de las localidades costeras de las regiones del Maule y del Biobío quedaron completamente destruidas. Fuentes oficiales cifraron el día después al desastre en medio millón el número de viviendas destruidas y en al menos otro millón y medio el de dañadas en alguna medida.[84]​[9]​ El sismo, que fue percibido con fuerza por cerca del 80% de la población chilena,[85]​ dejó una cifra estimada de 2 millones de damnificados, más del 10% de la población de Chile.[9]​.

Durante las primeras horas, el número de víctimas fatales subió rápidamente, a medida que los organismos gubernamentales lograban entablar comunicación con las diversas localidades afectadas. A mediodía del 27, la Oficina Nacional de Emergencia del Ministerio del Interior (ONEMI) determinó 78 víctimas en todo el país, 34 en la Región del Maule.[86]​ A fines del mismo día, el número se encumbró a 214 fallecidos y 15 desaparecidos,[87]​ y ya para el día 28, llegaron a 708 fallecidos a nivel nacional, concentrados principalmente en el Maule, con 541.[88]​ Ya para el 1 de marzo, la cifra comenzó a acotarse. La ONEMI anunció ese día 723 fallecidos,[89]​ que para el día siguiente aumentó a 796.[90]​ El 3 de marzo, cuando la cifra de fallecidos llegó a 799,[91]​ el gobierno de Chile publicó la primera lista oficial de estos, aunque parcial.[92]​.

El conteo de víctimas fatales hasta el 3 de marzo fue entregado diariamente por la ONEMI. Sin embargo, las cifras fueron criticadas debido a su inexactitud, especialmente respecto al conteo de víctimas en la Región del Maule, que eran muy superiores a las reales. Tras ello, el Ministerio del Interior tomó la determinación de entregar un nuevo conteo de víctimas fatales, incluyendo solamente a las víctimas plenamente identificadas por el Servicio Médico Legal (SML) y las instituciones accesorias. Este proceso, iniciado el día 4 de marzo, quedó a cargo de la Subsecretaría del Interior, encabezada por Patricio Rosende.[93]​ Rosende cada día nombró uno a uno desde el Palacio de La Moneda a los fallecidos identificados;[94]​ según él, “quienes han muerto en esta catástrofe son personas, y no números, y mientras no tengamos nosotros la certeza total de quiénes son los chilenos que han fallecido en esta catástrofe nos vamos a limitar a informar de aquellos respecto de quienes sí podemos acreditar su identidad”.[95]​.

Tras el cambio de gobierno realizado el 11 de marzo, el nuevo subsecretario del Interior Rodrigo Ubilla afirmó que una nueva lista de fallecidos sería entregada para actualizar las cifras entregadas por Rosende, la cual cometía diversos errores debido a la falta de información precisa en su momento. La nueva lista fue publicada el 19 de marzo, reduciendo el número a 452 fallecidos, de los cuales 359 tenían completamente identificados tanto su RUN como su causa de deceso.[98]​ Sin embargo, al analizar el listado se determinó que muchos casos correspondían a personas repetidas o diversas personas con el mismo RUN.[99]​ El gobierno reconoció el error y publicó un nuevo listado el 20 de marzo consignando 342 fallecidos identificados; sin embargo, el error se repitió nuevamente en dos ocasiones. En su cuarta publicación el mismo día, Ubilla confirmó el número de 342 fallecidos identificados y al menos 62 fallecidos sin extender su certificado de defunción.[100]​ Una actualización de las cifras elevó la cifra de muertos totales a 432, el 30 de marzo.[101]​ Durante el año 2010, la cifra de muertos fue constantemente actualizada a medida que se recababan más datos; el 31 de enero de 2011 se estableció un número de 525 muertos y 23 desaparecidos.[4]​.

Una de las principales causas de muerte fue la asfixia por inmersión producto del tsunami, que cobró la vida de más de un centenar de personas.[102]​ En enero de 2011, la Fiscalía Nacional publicó el listado oficial de fallecidos producto del tsunami, tanto por asfixia por inmersión como por traumatismos producto del impacto de las olas. El resultado fue de 156 personas fallecidas (82 hombres y 74 mujeres) y al menos 25 personas (14 hombres y 11 mujeres) desaparecidas.[103]​.

Respecto al terremoto del 11 de marzo, se reportaron dos personas fallecidas en Pichilemu y Talca como producto de fallas cardíacas.[104]​.

Coquimbo Region

The earthquake was felt throughout the Coquimbo Region, with the southern area being, specifically in the province of Choapa, where it was recorded with greatest strength, reaching an intensity of VI on the Mercalli scale in Los Vilos and Illapel. In Los Vilos, in addition, a seaweed was reported missing as a result of the high tides caused by the tsunami.[105]​.

In the La Serena-Coquimbo conurbation, where the intensity was V degrees Mercalli, there was no damage to public infrastructure. In Coquimbo, storm surges related to the main tsunami were recorded that affected the coastal area of ​​Avenida Costanera "Avenida Costanera (Coquimbo)"), causing minor damage to that road and part of the private property located there. In La Serena "La Serena (Chile)"), as a result of the power outage, isolated looting and robberies were recorded shortly after the earthquake, in addition to minor damage at the La Florida Airport "Aeropuerto La Florida (Chile)"), which was quickly reestablished to cooperate in receiving national and international flights, redirected from the Santiago International Airport.

Valparaiso Region

Although it was felt throughout the region, the earthquake mainly affected the coastal areas in the province of Valparaíso, province of Marga Marga and the province of San Antonio where the highest intensity was recorded. In Viña del Mar, several buildings suffered serious damage, and two were evacuated as a precaution. 30 homes in Viña del Mar had irrecoverable damage, more than 300 people were affected and the Palacio Vergara building was damaged.[106] More than 200 homes, the Palacio Subercaseaux and the Prat Pier were some of the main damages recorded in Valparaíso, which was mainly affected in the old town sector and the port area. The Carlos Van Buren hospital suffered some flooding and structural damage. In the port of San Antonio "San Antonio (Chile)") and in Llolleo, the impact of the tsunami caused serious damage to the port infrastructure and homes near the coast.[107]​.

However, it was the Juan Fernández archipelago that was most affected by the earthquake, even though it was not felt due to being more than 600 kilometers off the continental South American coast. An hour after the earthquake, the tsunami generated by it hit the islands. In the only town in the archipelago, San Juan Bautista "San Juan Bautista (Chile)") on Robinson Crusoe Island, the sea level rose sharply, rising more than 300 meters and covering half of the town. The main buildings were destroyed, including the Port Captaincy, the municipal school and the Illustrious Municipality of Juan Fernández among others. According to witnesses, the same residents alerted the community of the waves reaching the bay, but many failed to understand the warning and ran to the beach instead of fleeing to the inland hills. Six people died from the impact of the waters and another five were transported by the Chilean Air Force to be treated in Valparaíso.[81]​ On Easter Island, meanwhile, the Navy alert allowed the evacuation of its population inland, although the tsunami was of low intensity and caused no damage or victims.[81]​.

The region's rail and road infrastructure was also damaged. The usual service of the Limache-Puerto Train suffered an interruption on the Las Cucharas bridge, which connects the El Salto and Quilpué stations, due to a serious structural failure in one of its pillars.[108]​ The service was resumed on March 8, but in two sections: the first from the Puerto station to El Salto, and the second from Quilpué to Limache in more combinations,[109]​ hoping to resume the service in its entirety on the day March 19.[110]​ In addition, there were outages due to falling walkways on Route 5 North "Ruta 5 (Chile)") near Nogales "Nogales (Chile)"), La Calera "Calera (Chile)") and Llaillay; landslides on Route E-41 in the province of Petorca and closure of the Lo Gallardo bridges in Llolleo and Yali in Santo Domingo "Santo Domingo (Chile)").[111]​.

Santiago Metropolitan Region

In Santiago de Chile and throughout the Metropolitan Region, several buildings suffered serious damage, although generally minor compared to those suffered during the 1985 earthquake. Among the unused buildings in the capital of Chile, the partial collapse of the Church of Divina Providencia stands out, from which its bell tower was detached, and the Basilica of the Savior, already damaged in the earthquake 25 years ago. Likewise, national monuments such as the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Central Market, the Cousiño Palace, the Central House of the University of Chile and the Equestrian Club suffered damages of varying degrees, in the latter it is worth highlighting that the original enclosure whose buildings date from the end of the century and the beginning of the century did not suffer damage except the perimeter wall built in the 1970s[112]​ while the Santa Lucía hill had to close its walk due to the damage and road accidents experienced. there.[113]​ Various health centers were affected in their structure, with the Félix Bulnes Hospital being the most affected, having to be closed and its patients evacuated.[114]​ Educational establishments such as the Manuel Barros Borgoño High School had to be closed and its students relocated to other centers.

The La Moneda Palace, seat of the national government and one of the few colonial buildings in Santiago that has survived the earthquakes, suffered minor damage such as detachment of friezes in interior patios and cracks in some walls, and something more serious, such as complete cracks in the Salón Prat, located between the front façade and the Patio de los Cañones. Although one of the most affected areas corresponds to the old town of the city, in sectors such as the Brasil neighborhood and the communes of Santiago "Santiago (commune)") and Quinta Normal, most of the damaged buildings correspond to the most recent construction in this sector, with an average of less than ten years of construction. This corresponds to the damage to buildings of little age in sectors such as Maipú "Maipú (Chile)"), Ñuñoa and the Business City that were left unusable or seriously damaged. Many of these constructions would have violated the anti-seismic safety standards officially imposed since 1960 or were built on soils not suitable for housing construction.[115] One of the clearest examples was that of two four-story buildings in Maipú in which some floors collapsed and were on the verge of causing the complete collapse of the structure.

Transportation infrastructure suffered isolated damage. The Santiago Metro resisted without any type of structural damage and only some stations faced falls of minor elements such as advertising notices, so the service was resumed on the 28th on four of the five lines; Merino Benítez suffered massive rockfalls in its interior finishes and walkways, as well as air conditioning ducts, so it was closed for a day. Route 68 that connects the city of Valparaíso with Santiago was closed due to the danger of landslides.[118]​ Of the four existing urban highways, only the Vespucio Norte Express Highway faced significant damage as a result of the detachment of some sections and three bridges, with one year estimated as the deadline to repair these problems.[119]​ Some walkways and numerous crossings, meanwhile, collapsed on the Pan-American Highway, causing some cuts. The earthquake caused the collapse of telephone lines, making it difficult to confirm the damage, along with a blackout of the entire Central Interconnected System, from Regions III to

Liberator General Bernardo O'Higgins Region

According to ONEMI, 130,237 people are affected in the O'Higgins Region, with a number of 14,212 homes destroyed.[125]​ The central government declared a "state of catastrophe" throughout the Region in order to provide extraordinary resources for rescue and reconstruction efforts.[126]​ The O'Higgins Region faced various damages, although these achieved greater notoriety in the rural world. Several communities were isolated and communication with them took considerably longer than in urban areas. Many of the homes in the area, built in adobe, were completely destroyed or unusable. In the commune of Peralillo, 90% of the homes fell, including many that were of a heritage nature.[127]​ Meanwhile, in Chépica "Chépica (Chile)"), 60% of its homes are uninhabitable and the temple of San Antonio de Padua completely collapsed, leaving only its central tower standing.[128]​ The destruction of the homes was not the only problem in the rural towns: the Placilla cemetery suffered. serious damage and many bodies were exposed, generating an infectious focus in the sector.[129]​.

In Rancagua, the regional capital, the convent of La Merced "Iglesia de La Merced (Rancagua)") was destroyed. 45,192 people were affected in the commune and regarding homes, 7,660 had minor damage, 3,880 had serious problems and 505 were destroyed.[130] San Fernando "San Fernando (Chile)") had few problems; However, its neighboring city of Santa Cruz "Santa Cruz (Chile)") suffered several collapses of homes and historic buildings, accumulating the highest number of deaths at the regional level.[131] The sanctuary of Santa Rosa de Pelequén was left with serious structural damage.[132] In the coastal sector, the tsunami wreaked havoc, entering several blocks inland in the city of Pichilemu and dragging two children out to sea. In Bucalemu, the sea entered up to more than 600 meters outside the coastline.[133]​.

In addition, the earthquake caused several damages to the road infrastructure, with cuts on Route 5 South "Route 5 (Chile)"), the Fruit Highway and the Acid Highway.[134]​ Despite the initial warnings, the Convento Viejo reservoir withstood the earthquake and was not in danger of collapsing.[133]​ Meanwhile, significant damage was suffered by Monticello Grand Casino, the largest casino in South America (located in Mostazal, next to the border between the Sixth and Metropolitan regions), having to evacuate 3,500 people from their premises at the time of the earthquake.[135]​ The earthquake would also have caused serious damage to the wine industry in the Colchagua Valley, causing a loss of millions of liters as a result of the destruction of wineries and the lack of irrigation due to the absence of drinking water and electricity, with Merlot being one of the most affected strains.[136]​.

On March 11, the impact of a new earthquake and its aftershocks spread mainly over Region VI, although it was considerably smaller than the seismic movement of February 27. According to ONEMI, only the fall of a pedestrian walkway on Route 5, some outages of the electrical service and a slightly larger wave on the coast that did not cause damage were recorded, despite the preventive tsunami warning initially issued. O'Higgins.[138]​.

Maule Region

The Maule Region was undoubtedly one of the most affected in the entire country. According to the initial figures provided by ONEMI, there were more than 580 officially deceased people, close to three quarters of the total at the national level;[91]​ however, the Army determined that the figure was much lower (316 deceased), a difference explained mainly by the initial inclusion of missing people in the list of deaths and those who died in hospitals due to natural causes.[139]​[140]​.

Gran parte de la destrucción se concentró en el sector costero, afectado por el tsunami generado. Así, localidades como Constitución "Constitución (Chile)"), Iloca, Curanipe y Pelluhue prácticamente desaparecieron. En Constitución, la cifra de muertos inicial se elevó por sobre las 350 personas,[141]​ siendo luego ajustada a 172.[139]​ Luego de que el impacto del terremoto destruyera gran parte de las viviendas, media hora después sobrevino la primera de tres olas que entraron a la ciudad, superando los 8 metros cada una, y que aprovecharon la desembocadura del río Maule para ingresar con mayor facilidad hasta la Plaza de Armas de la ciudad.[79]​ Gran parte de The deaths corresponded to about two hundred people who, at the time of the earthquake, were camping on a small island near the mouth.[142]​[143]​.

For their part, the cities of Cauquenes, Talca, Linares "Linares (Chile)"), Curicó and Parral "Parral (Chile)"), as well as a large part of the towns in the Region, suffered devastating structural damage. The ancient and centuries-old adobe buildings of these cities, which had not suffered major damage in the previous earthquakes of 1960 and 1985 due to the relative distance between both epicenters, were this time very seriously damaged or completely destroyed. More than half of the historic center of these cities was devastated, including various historical monuments and centuries-old buildings of colonial origin. In Talca, for example, more than 8,000 traditional homes suffered major or total damage, a large part of them in the historic center of the city.[144] The Pan-American Highway was seriously damaged due to the collapse of the bridge over the Claro River "Río Claro (Talca)") while access from this route to Parral, Cauquenes and Chanco were disabled, which together caused enormous difficulties in establishing communication between the capital and the affected cities of the VII and the VIII Region.[145]​ The tsunami that affected Constitución also caused serious damage to the CELCO pulp plants, so industrial activities had to be suspended.[146]​.

The earthquake also affected one of the main national parks in central Chile. A fissure in the rocks caused the waters that give life to the waterfalls in the Radal Siete Tazas National Park to leak into the underground layers, leaving them completely dry.[147]​.

• - Branch of the Credit and Investment Bank in Curicó.

• - Ruins of the building of the newspaper La Prensa de Curicó.

Biobío Region

Due to its size and large population, it was Greater Concepción that concentrated the greatest concern in the Biobío Region. The city of Concepción "Concepción (Chile)") suffered serious damage to homes, buildings and infrastructure. Although a large part of the population was in their homes when the earthquake began, at that time there were a large number of people in the Barrio Estación "Barrio Estación (Concepción)"), the main entertainment center in Concepción. Carabineros had to use megaphones to control people fleeing from bars and restaurants.[148] Many people from Concepción and Talcahuano immediately moved to the highest areas to flee the tsunami that hit the Penquista coast. In the port of Talcahuano, the impact of the sea dragged ships towards the center of the city, covering its streets with water, mud and debris. The naval base, the ASMAR shipyards and the Town Hall building suffered significant damage, as did the port infrastructure, affecting a large number of containers that were flooded. The Huáscar monitor, meanwhile, was swept away by the tsunami, changing its usual orientation from north to south to west to east.[80]​ The damage to the naval base caused hundreds of explosive materials (such as "Bengala (pyrotechnics)" flares) to be dragged by the tsunami towards Talcahuano Bay, so the Chilean Navy decided to prohibit navigation until the material was rescued.[149]​.

In the regional capital, along with the landslides, various fires were recorded, such as the one that devastated the Faculty of Chemical Sciences of the University of Concepción. The conurbation was cut off as a result of the destruction of the main access road arteries, especially the bridges that cross the Biobío River: to the detachment of a gap in the Llacolén Bridge and structural damage to the Juan Pablo II Bridge, was added the complete destruction of the Old Bridge "Puente Viejo (Chile)"). Among the affected structures, the collapse of the Alto Río apartment building stands out, making it one of the symbols of the catastrophe. Located on Los Carrera Avenue, at the access to the Llacolén Bridge, it had been inaugurated just a few months before the earthquake event. The fifteen-story building collapsed, flipping horizontally, leaving eight people dead and another 78 injured.[148]

The coast north of Concepción was particularly devastated. Said practically disappeared, with 80% of its homes swept away by the tsunami.[150]​ The population of Caleta Tumbes quickly fled to the hills to avoid being swept away by the waters, having to stay there to spend the night in tents.[151]​.

• - Building collapses in the center of Concepción.

• - Faculty of Chemical Sciences of the University of Concepción.

• - The Llacolén bridge over the Biobío river.

Towards the south, the situation was devastating in Coronel "Coronel (Chile)"), Lota and several towns in the province of Arauco. The central sector of Coronel suffered serious damage,[152]​ as well as part of the Isidora Cousiño Park in Lota and the access to the Coal Museum in Chiflón del Diablo, although its underground galleries did not suffer considerable damage.[153]​ The town of Tirúa, one of the poorest in the country, was completely destroyed: like all the buildings located up to four blocks from the coastline, the municipal building disappeared, and some homes were washed away for about a kilometer by the waves that followed the course of the local river. A similar situation occurred on the nearby Mocha Island, where the tsunami reached one of its largest sizes, reaching 20 meters in height according to witnesses, and eliminated any vestige of civilization on its coastal plains.[154]​.

Araucanía Region

In the Region of La Araucanía, the earthquake was felt with great intensity, causing several collapses in homes and the interruption of basic services. In the regional capital, Temuco, damage was caused to the theater and the municipality, with the condition of the Hernán Henríquez Hospital being the most serious. Nearly 450 patients had to be evacuated due to the serious damage to the hospital premises, after which many were transferred to the premises of the new Regional Hospital, which had to open its doors urgently even though its construction was not completed.[161][162]​.

One of the most affected areas was the city of Angol. Most of its commercial premises, as well as the city hospital, were completely destroyed.[163] In the coastal area of ​​the region, mainly Queule "Queule (Chile)"), Toltén and Puerto Saavedra "Saavedra (Chile)") suffered the effects of the tsunami, which flooded the areas closest to the sea and destroyed docks and fishing boats. In this last town, a pond of water fell on five homes, killing a mother and her three-month-old daughter there.[162]​.

In Lake Villarrica, meanwhile, environmental experts had to evaluate the state of its waters, after the earthquake lifted a significant amount of sediment from its bottom, altering the existing biological balance.[164]​ Also, alerts were established for the sectors near the Llaima and Villarrica volcanoes due to alterations in their behavior.[62]​.

Los Rios Region

Although the earthquake was felt with great intensity in the Los Ríos Region, the damage was considerably less compared to the other regions and there were also no fatalities identified by the government.[97]​ In Valdivia, the damage was concentrated in the Costanera sector, whose asphalt cracked, in addition to walkways and some buildings such as the Provincial Government.[165][166]​.

The tsunami caused alerts in coastal areas such as Corral "Corral (Chile)") and Niebla "Niebla (Chile)"), where its inhabitants immediately fled to the hills, remembering the destruction caused by the historic Valdivia earthquake of 1960; The sea, although it was collected, did not cause flooding. The Chilean Navy immediately restricted the departure of all types of vessels, leaving the commune of Corral isolated. Meanwhile, in the interior areas, minor damage was recorded: in Lanco some walls fell, in Los Lagos "Los Lagos (commune)") a walkway fell and in Panguipulli some streets broke.[165]​.

public safety

Minutes after the earthquake occurred, in various affected cities there were robberies and looting of commercial stores, buildings and homes, especially in those most affected, taking advantage of the physical damage, the fallen walls, the flight of the owners to the hills and the lack of sufficient police presence, especially after the collapse of many barracks and police stations.

The looting, vandalism and other acts of this nature took place for several days, which caused Michelle Bachelet's government to be strongly criticized, accusing it of political ineffectiveness. Even the former member of the Patriotic Front Manuel Rodríguez Vassili Carrillo, currently an active social leader in the Lota coal zone as well as a small businessman, publicly asked for the intervention of the military, arguing that this has no political color and that the criminals had taken to the streets.

In Constitución "Constitución (Chile)"), the looting occurred as soon as the tsunami waters moved away from the city center. The city's three supermarkets were emptied by people in search of food, water and other essential products, a situation that was repeated in the few businesses in the city that managed to remain standing. However, at nightfall, the thefts of material goods in homes became widespread while the contingent of about fifty police officers was not able to control the situation. Added to this was the state of the city jail, which had to evacuate 103 inmates as a result of the structural damage it presented. On Sunday the 28th, the situation began to calm down with the successive arrival of police reinforcements: 150 new troops arrived that same day, and 40 from Santiago and 13 from Talca the next.[143]​.

The situation, however, was stronger in Greater Concepción, where hours after the disaster several lootings occurred in different establishments,[168]​ which led the mayor of Concepción "Concepción (Chile)"), Jacqueline Van Rysselberghe, to demand the action of the military to resolve the chaos that existed in the city.[169]​ On Sunday the 28th, a Penquista Líder "Líder (supermarket)") hypermarket was completely looted, but not only by people in search of basic necessities; The images of people leaving the premises with plasma screen televisions and other appliances became an emblem of the situation of lack of control and a source of extensive debate.[170]​.

In order to "guarantee the situation of public order in the most affected area and accelerate the delivery of aid", following a strong initiative from the chambers and being led by the National Renewal benches, the Chilean Executive Branch decided the day after the earthquake to decree a "state of constitutional catastrophe exception" in the regions of Maule and Biobío for a period of 30 days, which gave free rein to the Army to intervene if necessary, in order to guarantee security, in addition to helping in the tasks of debris removal and reconstruction.[171]​ At first the application of this measure was approached differently in the two most affected areas: although in the Biobío Region it was adopted immediately, which meant an improvement in the security situation of the city with the cessation of looting,[172]​ in the Maule Region the decision was put on hold when the military authorities understood that the situation was not so dramatic.[173]​ The balance of the situation first night under the effects of the curfew established in Concepción, the first that was decreed in Chile since the return of democracy "Transition to democracy (Chile)"), resulted in one death from a gunshot wound and 55 detainees for violating said government measure, who joined the 105 people also detained on Sunday for participating in acts of vandalism. In towns in communes close to Concepción such as Chiguayante, San Pedro de la Paz or Hualqui, however, their neighbors reported that the police and military presence had been zero.[174]​.

The establishment of the curfew did not mean the end of the problems in Concepción. During the day after the first night under the effects of the curfew, looting continued to occur and a La Polar store was even set on fire.[175]​ In order to definitively establish calm and thus ensure the delivery of food to the population that was intended to go from house to house, the government decided that, from the second day, the curfew would be extended to 18 hours, from 6:00 p.m. to the following noon.[176]​ The then president Bachelet sent a message to the nation in which she assured that the police and military authorities had instructions to act “with all the necessary severity” to end the looting and pillage.[177]​ In the following days, the curfew was extended throughout the Biobío Region and some communes of Maule (those near Curicó, Talca, Cauquenes and Constitución "Constitución (Chile)").[167]​.

The improvement in security that was experienced during the following days in the affected areas led to the authorities gradually reducing the extension of the confinement hours.[178] Police and military action in the following days, once the situation of chaos in the main cities had calmed down, led to the seizure of several of the species stolen during the looting and many were even returned voluntarily due to the possibility of being prosecuted, recovering close to 2 million dollars in goods.[179]​ In the rest of the country, the public security situation remained relatively normal. Although on March 11 the government of Sebastián Piñera decreed a “state of catastrophe” in the O'Higgins Region, among its first measures upon taking office, it refused to extend the curfew to that area as it did not consider it necessary at that time, trying to maintain calm and tranquility. This region remained under the command of a commander of the plaza, Brigadier General Antonio Yackcich.[138]​.

In Santiago de Chile, however, some specific looting was recorded in the northern sector of the city. On the 28th, attempts to loot were recorded in two supermarkets in Quilicura, one in Conchalí and some premises in Lampa "Lampa (Chile)"), being largely stopped by the action of Carabineros Special Forces, which detained 19 people.[180]​[181]​ Although the police action managed to control almost all of the looting attempts, in the following days rumors arose that they had spread throughout the Region Metropolitan. Through Twitter, many users echoed the alleged wave of looting on Paseo Ahumada and in commercial neighborhoods such as Meiggs and Patronato, which led many owners to close their stores to avoid chaos and nearly 700 telephone complaints with no real basis. Carabineros and the regional authorities insisted that looting was not occurring and that it only corresponded to unfounded rumors.[182]​[183][184]​ Despite the authorities' call for calm, in various communes there were nights of vigil by their inhabitants who awaited with sticks, knives and firearms the arrival of mobs willing to loot, experiencing a kind of collective hysteria where the existence of mobs was assured. although it was never certain about these. Some mayors also participated in these situations and even requested military deployment and the establishment of a curfew in the capital, which ultimately did not happen.[185]​[186]​.

Basic services

Once the main earthquake occurred, almost all of the basic services provided to citizens failed. The electric power distribution network was one of the first to collapse due to falling poles, cutting cables and other incidents in some substations. In the absence of electricity, services that depended on it such as mobile telephony, landline telephony and the supply of drinking water also collapsed in places where the use of pumps was required.

Fifteen days after the earthquake occurred, on March 14 at 8:44 p.m. local time, there was a new widespread power outage, which affected the entire Central Interconnected System.[187] The blackout was caused by the failure of a 500 kilovolt transformer located in the Charrúa electrical substation, located in the commune of Cabrero "Cabrero (Chile)"), Biobío Region. The second existing transformer in the plant could not withstand the energy overload, producing the blackout.[188]​ The Charrúa substation is one of the main nodes of the network, being the link between the main transmission trunk and the hydroelectric plants of the La Laja lagoon and the upper Biobío,[189]​ which have a total power of 2,340 MW (25% of the SIC's total).

The electrical transmission was restored gradually, and at 11:30 p.m. it should have been practically restored throughout the country, with the exception of the Biobío Region.[187]​ At 12:30 a.m., it had been restored to 88%, which increased to 93% an hour later, leaving 40% of Biobío with supply.[188]​ The blackout caused shock among a large part of the citizens, including a party. football and a concert that had to be suspended, while the passengers of the Santiago Metro had to be evacuated.[188]​.

The distribution of drinking water suffered from cuts mainly in the regions of Maule and Biobío, where less than 15% of the population was supplied during the first hours of the earthquake; In the least affected regions, the cuts were sectored, with the Metropolitan Region having 96% normalized supply and the Valparaíso Region, 75%. The replacement of the service was managed quickly and, as of March 2, regions V, VI, IX and Metropolitan had more than 95% replacement, while Maule had 62.1% and Biobío, 43.8%, totaling 87.5% at the national level.[190]​ In these last two regions, the fire departments organized the delivery of drinking water[191]​ along with cistern trucks. state and private to supply the population, covering 11% of the country five days after the earthquake.[192] Coverage was expanded, reaching almost its entirety in the least affected regions one week after the earthquake and over 90% in Maule; However, in Biobío, coverage exceeded 70% just ten days after the seismic event and localities such as Arauco "Arauco (commune)"), Dichato and Lebu lacked normal distribution until two weeks later as a result of the destruction of the necessary infrastructure.[190] In much of Greater Valparaíso, meanwhile, a scheduled outage had to be carried out between March 9 and 11 in order to repair the Las Vegas aqueduct, which It had serious flaws.[190]​.

Displaced

The mountain range near the coast, located between parallels 35° and 38°, became the place chosen by thousands of people from coastal towns to take refuge from possible tsunamis caused by the constant aftershocks that began to occur immediately after the earthquake. The total number of displaced people from the Maule and Biobío regions who chose the hills near their homes as refuge was estimated at more than 500,000 people, although there was no official figure.[210]​.

Solidarity campaigns and humanitarian aid

In the days following the earthquake, various solidarity campaigns were organized "Solidarity (sociology)"). Television channels and other media outlets spontaneously organized large food drives for earthquake victims in Pelluhue, Constitución "Constitución (Chile)") and Concepción "Concepción (Chile)"), among other locations. Various companies carried out donation campaigns in their premises, especially supermarkets, department stores and household items, generally carrying out "one and one" campaigns, in which each purchase or donation made by citizens is repeated by the company, or they gave percentages of their sales to charitable foundations. Homecenter Sodimac even carried out the campaign within all its branches throughout Latin America.[211]​.

Volunteering, however, was one of the main sources of humanitarian aid to the devastated areas. Thousands of young people organized together with sports, political, religious and academic associations to organize collections, collect donations of food, clothing and toiletries.[212]​[213]​ In fact, one of the first organizations to react was the Federation of Students of the University of Chile, which managed to summon thousands of young people to collect aid, set up collection centers and plan volunteer work. Many even made trips to the affected areas to support the reconstruction efforts and the delivery of goods and food.[214] Within these campaigns, however, some accidents occurred, such as the crash of a private plane in the vicinity of Tomé in charge of coordinating the aid actions carried out by the San Sebastián University, killing its six crew members, including the vice-rector and a dean of that institution and the former president of the youth of the Democratic Union. Independiente,[215]​ and the attack of a first-year engineering student at the University of Chile while she was handing out flyers on Tobalaba Avenue, which caused her death.[216]​.

Meanwhile, the National Television Association, the Government of Chile and the foundations Teletón, Caritas Chile, Fundación para la Superación de la Pobreza, Un Techo Para Chile and Hogar de Cristo, organized a special telethon on March 5 and 6 in order to raise funds for the victims. The even millions of dollars, to build 30 thousand emergency homes; However, the collection at the national level exceeded all expectations, as did the donations provided by various companies and organizations. At the close of the event that lasted 25 hours, 30,212,775,555 Chilean pesos were raised, double the goal. Days later, the final audit delivered a total of 45,974,813,684 pesos, of which 55% was donated by companies and 45% by the Chilean population. The excess money compared to the goal was given to the Teletón Foundation for the reconstruction of the schools destroyed by the earthquake.[217]​.

A group of businessmen who are passionate about nautical activities, who were leading a project to circumnavigate the planet by crossing Cape Horn when the earthquake occurred, formed "Desafío Levantemos Chile" as a way to deliver aid to the victims. Its main focus was the reconstruction of schools in the most affected areas and helping fishermen who had lost their boats.[218]​ "Desafío Levantemos Chile" managed to build more than 17 modular schools in two months and they hope to exceed twenty.[219]​.

International reactions

As soon as the news of the devastating earthquake across the planet became known, the various governments and international organizations expressed their solidarity with Chile. Even though the greatest gestures came from the countries close to and with the greatest relations with Chile throughout its history, even governments that do not maintain relations with the country offered their condolences and support, as in the case of Abkhazia, Kosovo and Western Sahara.[220]​[221]​[222]​.

In the first hours, multiple governments, charities and non-profit organizations offered to deliver humanitarian aid to Chile. The Chilean government, through the ambassador to the United Nations, expressed its gratitude for the expressions of support and declined to receive help until the magnitude of the tragedy and its main needs had been assessed.[223] Two days after the earthquake, the ambassador formally requested in Geneva "Geneva (Switzerland)") the help of the UN and the sending of teams from said organization to assess the damage as well as assistance to help the victims. Specifically, the diplomat requested the urgent shipment of mobile bridges, satellite phones, generating equipment, tents and medical supplies.[224]​.

The governments of Argentina,[225]​ Brazil,[226]​ Cuba,[227]​ Peru[228]​ and the United States immediately supported the Chilean authorities, sending supplies, medical and humanitarian personnel, as well as field hospitals located in the affected areas. The Bolivian government sent tons of water in a few hours to the damaged cities,[229]​ while Mexico sent personnel to establish water purification centers.[230]​ Argentina also increased its shipment of natural gas to Chile sixfold so that they could decompress the demand for diesel for thermoelectric plants.[231]​ Germany,[232]​ Japan[233]​ and Switzerland,[234]​ meanwhile, sent specialist teams to support the rescue and reconstruction work.

The presidents of Brazil and Peru, Lula da Silva and Alan García,[228]​ traveled personally to Chile to be able to deliver their contributions to the relief and reconstruction efforts, as did US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.[235]​.

Culture and sport

The sixth and last night of the LI Viña del Mar International Song Festival was scheduled for Saturday the 27th, which was suspended due to the earthquake and its constant aftershocks. Thus, the most important musical event in the country was suspended for the first time in fifty years of history. The same day it was announced that sporting events, concerts and others would be canceled for the same reasons. Among these events, the V International Congress of the Spanish Language stood out, which would be attended by King Juan Carlos I of Spain, and the friendly matches of the national soccer team against Costa Rica and North Korea to be held on March 3.[236]​[237]​ The concert by the group NOFX, scheduled for March 1, was initially suspended until further notice, but later its definitive suspension was confirmed.[238]​ The A-ha, Guns concerts N' Roses, Dream Theater and Los Fabulosos Cadillacs were rescheduled.

Continuing in the field of football, it is worth mentioning the great gesture of solidarity that the U.D. Almería of Spain on March 6, the day they faced F.C. Barcelona in an official match of the Spanish First Division at the Mediterranean Games Stadium in Almería. Almería, which did not have any advertising on its shirt that year, decided to play this match with a special shirt in which the motto "FUERZA CHILE!" could be clearly read on the chest area. The result of that match was 2-2, with goals from Domingo Cisma, and Carles Puyol in his own goal for the U.D. Almería, and Lionel Messi twice for F.C. Barcelona.[239] This gesture reached Chile through various news programs, as well as to different Chilean clubs. The 24 shirts worn by the Almería players were auctioned, raising 32,600,000 pesos (about $63,000).[240] The money raised was donated to humble soccer clubs, to the Home and Shelter of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan of Molina, in the Maule Region, one of the most affected by the earthquake, and to a merchant in the town of Iloca, south of Chile.

The round of 16 match of the 2010 Davis Cup was postponed by one day due to the delay in the arrival of the Israeli team to play the series in Coquimbo.[241] In addition, the National Professional Football Association suspended the Apertura Tournament "Torneo Apertura 2010 (Chile)") indefinitely on the seventh date of this,[242]​ and several other matches due to the state of the venues. sports; The format of the national championship even had to be modified, holding a single annual tournament as opposed to the two semi-annual ones initially planned.[243] The Chilean delegation at the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Games paraded with a black crepe as a sign of mourning during the opening ceremony, being received with loud applause from the spectators.[244]​.

Various artists and athletes actively participated in relief efforts in areas damaged by the earthquake. Various charity concerts were held both in Chile and outside the country to raise food, the main events being held at the Movistar Arena in Santiago (during which the blackout occurred on March 14 and had to be suspended) and , which brought together one hundred thousand people in Buenos Aires and a total of 60 tons of donations.[245] Two songs were released by a group of artists to raise funds for through the sales of their respective singles, following the trend of songs such as ; artists such as Alejandro Sanz, Amaia Montero, Beto Cuevas, Juanes, Julieta Venegas, Laura Pausini, Michael Bublé, Miguel Bosé and La Oreja de Van Gogh participated in new versions of «Thanks to life "Thanks to life (song)")» and «Que cante la vida "Que cante la vida (2010 song)")», originals by Violeta Parra and Alberto Plaza, respectively. Additionally, several concerts in the country allocated part of their income in honor of the victims: Nelly Furtado's concert from the tour gave 5% of its profits and Ricardo Arjona's concert at the beginning of May allowed the reconstruction of a kindergarten in Dichato.[246][247]Placebo "Placebo (band)"), meanwhile, donated all of its profits. profits,[248]​ as did the group The Gathering "The Gathering (band)"), which held a special concert in Santiago requesting non-perishable food as part of the ticket.[249]​.

Government measures

On March 4, the then president Michelle Bachelet ordered that summer time throughout Chile be extended, for that year, until midnight on Saturday, April 3.[257] This change, formalized in the , was designed to facilitate the work of rescuers, the removal of debris, and in general to make better use of daylight in the afternoon. Normally, the change from summer time (UTC-3) to winter time (UTC-4) takes place at midnight on the second Saturday in March. The mayor of the Valparaíso Region Iván De La Maza ordered the suspension of the closing night of the LI Viña del Mar International Song Festival as a result of the national tragedy.

Errors in the alert system

The seismologist from the University of Hawaii, Vindell Hsu, who worked for the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, was the one who called the SHOA to give the tsunami warning on the coast of Chile. In a statement given to 3TV, he noted that the first thing that was done was to send an observation message which is an official message indicating that an earthquake has occurred and then a tsunami alert was sent to many countries in the Pacific Ocean, including Chile. Fifteen minutes after the earthquake occurred, the SHOA was called immediately to confirm if the tsunami warning had reached them. The person on duty who answered the phone did not speak English, and stated that they had received the alert, without understanding what had been asked, causing a misunderstanding that resulted in no coordination of the national warning systems, which reported that there would be no risk of a tsunami, as will be explained in the following lines.[258]​.

In her first public appearance after the earthquake, President Michelle Bachelet ruled out the possibility of a tsunami and called for the population to remain calm. These statements were made based on an error in the diagnosis of the situation by the Navy, more precisely the Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service of the Chilean Navy (SHOA). A few minutes after the earthquake, a large area of ​​coast was devastated by enormous waves that penetrated several hundred meters of land, destroying a large part of the structures in their path. The Chilean Navy has recognized its error in delivering ambiguous or erroneous information to the president,[259]​ however at the end of March 2010, the commander in chief of the institution, Edmundo González, in a statement given to the newspaper El Mercurio de Valparaíso pointed out that one hour before this telephone report to the president, ONEMI had already been notified by SHOA of the tsunami alert.[260]​ Two days after the catastrophe, the president Bachelet pointed out that the tsunami has caused more fatalities than the earthquake itself.[261]​.

Meanwhile in Talcahuano, one of the areas most affected by the tsunami, the former mayor Jaime Tohá and the former governor of the province of Concepción "Provincia de Concepción (Chile)"), Eric Aedo, contradicted the head of the Naval Zone, Rear Admiral Roberto Machivello, regarding who first provided the information where the tsunami alert was erroneously lifted.

According to what the civil authorities declared to Radio Bío-Bío, they held a face-to-face meeting during the early hours of February 27 with the Navy officer;[262]​ while Rear Admiral Machiavello maintains that he did not meet with Tohá and Aedo until late in the morning,[263]​ a version that was supported by the former mayor and then mayor of Concepción, Jacqueline Van Rysselberghe.[264]​.

Among the most notable facts in this series of errors, it stands out that nine hours after the seismic movement occurred, the tsunami warning was still not given in Chile, classifying this fact as "considerable variations in sea level",[265] being that the last wave recorded to reach the coast was at , in the town of Dichato.

In February 2013, a report from the Chilean Investigative Police (PDI) was released[266]

Therefore, the errors and the alleged culprits of said action will be judged by the Chilean Courts.

Las primeras estimaciones de la repercusión económica que tendría el terremoto en las arcas de la economía chilena fueron dadas a conocer un día después del suceso por el entonces presidente electo Sebastián Piñera que cifró en treinta mil millones de dólares el impacto derivado de las tareas de reconstrucción. El montante total se repartía entre los aproximadamente veinte mil millones que serían necesarios para la reconstrucción del medio millón de viviendas mayormente afectadas, otros cinco mil millones para la reconstrucción de hospitales y una cifra similar para la reconstrucción de carreteras, puentes y demás infraestructuras.[267]​ Esta cifra, que coincidía con el escenario más alto planteado por la empresa estadounidense Eqecat, especializada en evaluación de riesgos, equivalían al 15 por ciento del PIB anual del país austral.[268]​.

Damage to infrastructure

A week after the earthquake, the Minister of Public Works, Sergio Bitar, released the first assessment of the damage to structures that the country had suffered. According to the head of the MOP, a total of 1,200 infrastructure points throughout the country had been affected and required repair. The cost of these repairs was estimated at around $1.2 billion and the period in which they would be carried out over a period of three to four years. The infrastructure that was affected in the greatest number corresponded to the bridges, especially the 4,400 located in the south of the country, of which about 20 would have to be repaired and the same number completely rebuilt.[269]​.

Regarding the ports, Bitar announced that some of them had been seriously affected, including that of Talcahuano, 531 kilometers south of Santiago, where the Navy shipyard was severely damaged.[270]​ It had previously been announced that the most important ports in the country were affected, including Valparaíso, which caused the commercial flow of goods from Chile with other countries to be seriously affected.[271]​.

• - Annex:Chronology of relief efforts after the 2010 Chile earthquake.

• - Chillán earthquake of 1939.

• - Valdivia earthquake of 1960.

• - Santiago earthquake of 1985.

• - Tarapacá earthquake of 2005.

• - 2014 Iquique earthquake.

• - 2010 Ecuador earthquake.

• - 2010 Haiti earthquake.

• - 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami.

• - Seismic engineering.

• - 03:34, Chilean film inspired by the 2010 earthquake.

• - Aftershock "Aftershock (film)") Chilean-American film based on the 2010 earthquake.

• - Gallery of images of the earthquake.

• - Google help page.

• - Analysis of buildings affected by the earthquake.

• - Book of the Reconstruction of the Chilean Army.

Contenido

El terremoto ocurrió en el borde convergente entre la placa de Nazca y la placa Sudamericana. En la región en que tuvo lugar el terremoto, las placas convergen a un ritmo de unos 68 mm/año.[15]​ El terremoto estuvo caracterizado por un mecanismo focal de falla inversa causado por la subducción de la placa de Nazca por debajo de la Sudamericana.

Las costas de Chile tienen una historia de grandes terremotos originados por esta frontera de placas, como el terremoto de Valdivia de 1960, el más fuerte de la historia entre los registrados mediante sismógrafos, llegando a una magnitud de 9,5 en la escala sismológica de magnitud de momento, conocida erróneamente como escala de Richter.[16]​ Se estima que la zona de falla que se desplazó en este terremoto tenía una longitud de 640 km de largo, y se encontraba inmediatamente al norte del segmento de 960 km que dio origen al terremoto de 1960.[17]​.

La zona más afectada, entre las ciudades de Constitución "Constitución (Chile)") y Concepción "Concepción (Chile)"), aproximadamente entre los 35° y los 37° de latitud Sur, había sido considerada por los expertos como un sector de alta probabilidad de ocurrencia de un sismo de gran magnitud. La zona era considerada una laguna sísmica debido a la ausencia de un terremoto importante desde 1835, aun cuando la frecuencia de estos es cercana a los 60 años; en sectores aledaños, en tanto, la energía acumulada por la subducción de las placas ya había sido liberada por el norte con el terremoto de Santiago de 1985 y por el sur con el de Valdivia de 1960. La laguna sísmica generada en la costa del centro y sur de Chile era similar a la situación del extremo norte de Chile y el “gran terremoto” esperado en dicha zona por décadas.[14]​.

Estudios ulteriores sobre este terremoto han llegado a la conclusión de que, en estricto rigor, se trató de dos zonas de ruptura, en un evento asimétrico bilateral. Las dos direcciones de ruptura fueron N171°E (hacia el norte) y N17°E (hacia el sur), con longitudes de 313 y 118 km respectivamente. Se trata entonces de un total de más de 430 kilómetros, en dos rupturas independientes, lo que podría explicar las divergencias iniciales para determinar el epicentro.[18]​.

Durante más de 170 años, la subducción de la placa de Nazca bajo la Sudamericana estuvo retenida sin poder liberar la energía acumulada a través de un evento sísmico. Así, se acumuló una diferencia de hasta 10 metros entre el desplazamiento esperado de las placas y el real. Ante dicha situación, un grupo de sismólogos publicó en junio de 2009 que un terremoto de magnitud entre 8 y 8,5 debía ocurrir “en el futuro cercano”.[15]​.

main earthquake

At 03:34:12 local time (UTC-3), the violent earthquake occurred. According to the Seismological Service of Chile, the hypocenter was located 30.1 km deep under the Pacific Ocean, at point , located 12.5 kilometers from the Chilean coast and 17 kilometers from the town of Cobquecura, in the province of Ñuble "Province of Ñuble (1974-2018)") of the Biobío Region; The magnitude was estimated at 8.8 according to the seismological moment magnitude scale.[3] Meanwhile, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) estimated that the earthquake originated in a town a little further north, located in , 8 kilometers west of Curanipe, in the province of Cauquenes, Maule Region, with a magnitude of 8.8 on the moment magnitude scale. The USGS determined that the hypocenter was located 35 kilometers deep.[1]​

On the other hand, scientists determined that the first displacement of the earthquake originated between the towns of Trehuaco and Coelemu.[19]​.

The violence of the earthquake produced a redistribution of the land mass. According to NASA scientists, a change occurred in the planet's rotation, making the day shorter by 1.26 microseconds and tilting the Earth's axis by 2.7 milliseconds of arc, equivalent to 8 centimeters.[20] Studies using global positioning systems calculated that the city of Concepción moved 3.04 m to the west as a result of the earthquake, while in Santiago the displacement was close to 27.7 cm; Buenos Aires even moved 4 cm to the west, even though it is located more than 1,300 km away from the epicenter, and movements were recorded in areas as far away as the Malvinas Islands and the Brazilian city of Fortaleza "Fortaleza (Brazil)").[21]​.

In the Biobío Region and part of the Maule Region, the earthquake was perceived as having ruinous characteristics, reaching IX on the Mercalli seismological scale that measures the intensity of telluric events. In the northern sector of the Maule it was felt with intensity VIII, classified as "destructive", as well as in the Metropolitan regions of Santiago, O'Higgins, and the province of San Antonio in the Valparaíso Region.

Replicas

Almost immediately after the earthquake, aftershocks "Aftershock (seismology)") of different intensities began to occur located in Chilean territory. In the following 24 hours, more than a hundred of these aftershocks had already occurred, some of them of great intensity, the strongest being one that occurred less than two hours from the main event and which reached a magnitude of 6.9. Another of the most notable aftershocks was the one that occurred at 8:25 local time on Sunday the 28th, which had its epicenter on the coast of the O'Higgins Region and was felt from Valparaíso to Concepción "Concepción (Chile)"), reaching a magnitude of 6.2. As a consequence of these aftershocks, many of the houses that had been damaged by the main earthquake collapsed permanently.[23] A new aftershock of magnitude greater than 6, which occurred on March 3, generated shock in the population in conjunction with a tsunami alert, raised shortly after; As of that date, 203 aftershocks exceeding magnitude 4.9 had already been recorded.[24]​.

Some aftershocks of the Chilean earthquake occurred in Argentina. The tremors recorded in the provinces of Salta were particularly intense, where two deaths were recorded as a result of the tremors, and San Juan and Mendoza, where they reached high intensity. Lesser magnitude tremors were also recorded in the provinces of Neuquén, Río Negro, Chubut, Córdoba "Province of Córdoba (Argentina)"),[57]​ La Pampa,[58]​ and in Buenos Aires.[6]​.

The nature of a "replica" of the earthquake registered in Salta, however, was questioned due to its geological characteristics, different from that of the Cobquecura earthquake.[59]​ A similar event occurred with an earthquake of magnitude 6.3, recorded on March 4, 65 kilometers from the Chilean city of Calama in the II Region of Antofagasta.[60]​ The proximity of both epicenters (397 kilometers) and the great relative distance of both With respect to the main earthquake (more than 1,400 kilometers), it suggests the existence of an independent seismic focus in the area,[61]​ although the great difference in the depth of both telluric events (105.1 km for the Calama event and 9.5 km for the Salta event) again relativizes that relationship.

Meanwhile, the Southern Andes Volcanological Observatory (OVDAS) detected anomalous behavior in some Chilean volcanoes that began after the main earthquake occurred. Given this, the OVDAS decreed a yellow alert on the Llaima volcano and restricted ascent to the Villarrica volcano, as precautionary measures.[62]​.

March 2010 earthquake

On Thursday, March 11, almost two weeks after the main earthquake occurred, a strong seismic movement was felt at 11:39 (local time) in the central sector of Chile, covering practically the same areas affected by the February 27 earthquake. The event reached a magnitude of 6.9 on the seismological moment magnitude scale and its epicenter was located on land, about 9 kilometers east of the coastline, in the province of Cardenal Caro, in the Region of Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins.[63]​.

As an anecdotal fact, that day and at that same time the Change of Command Ceremony was taking place in the National Congress, in which the outgoing president Michelle Bachelet handed the presidential sash to Sebastián Piñera, an occasion that put the etiquette and composure of the participants and the illustrious guests, among whom were several South American presidents and the heir to the Crown of Spain, in serious trouble.[64]

This seismic movement and those perceived below were initially considered to be aftershocks of the February 27 earthquake. However, seismological analyzes of the wave patterns and hypocenter locations determined that they referred to an independent event, although it is highly likely that this event was greatly influenced by the changes in tectonic stresses generated by the first earthquake. While the earthquake with its epicenter off Cobquecura was produced by a thrust faulting between the two plates, the events of March 11 occurred as a normal (extensional) fault within the South American plate.[63][65][66]​.

In the hours following the 11:39 earthquake, a series of aftershocks occurred with eleven seismic movements with a magnitude greater than 5.0 and two with a magnitude greater than 6.0. Furthermore, the first of these three earthquakes generated a preventive tsunami alert for all urban areas located between the Coquimbo Region and the Los Lagos Region, causing chaos and collective hysteria in the population of cities such as La Serena "La Serena (Chile)"), Coquimbo, Valparaíso and Viña del Mar, which concentrate the largest population in the low coastal area in the alert section.[67][68]​.

Replicas from January 2011

On January 2, 2011, more than 10 months after the main event, a strong earthquake was felt between the Biobío and Los Lagos regions at 5:20 p.m. (local time). The earthquake had its epicenter near the town of Tirúa, on the border between the regions of Biobío and La Araucanía, with a magnitude of 7.1 M. The seismic movement did not report damage or fatalities, producing only temporary outages in the electrical supply in some sectors. In coastal towns, the population evacuated to safe areas spontaneously due to fear of a possible tsunami in towns such as Tirúa and Puerto Saavedra, although in the end the event did not occur.

Despite the time that has passed since the main earthquake, seismologists affirm that it was just another aftershock and even in telluric events of similar magnitude, such as the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, aftershocks were recorded up to 3 years later.[69] In various localities in the O'Higgins and Maule regions, strings of aftershocks of magnitude between 4.0 and 5.0 were recorded a few hours before and in the hours following the largest aftershock. strong, constituting an event called seismic swarm.[70]​.

Replicas from February 2011

On February 11, 2011, 16 days before one year after the main earthquake, an earthquake was recorded that reached a preliminary magnitude of 7 on the moment magnitude scale—later corrected to 6.8—whose epicenter was located 45 kilometers north of Concepción "Concepción (Chile)") and at a depth of 18.4 kilometers. Preventively, and according to Radio Bío-Bío, the inhabitants of Dichato were evacuated to higher sectors of the town. Power outages, collapse of telephone lines and traffic jams were recorded in the capital city of the Biobío Region where, according to the first reports, the tremor was felt most violently.[71] A preventive tsunami alert was issued to the coastal area of ​​the Biobío, Maule and La Araucanía regions. Between February 11 and 13, more than 50 earthquakes of moderate to high intensity were felt in the Biobío Region, highlighting four of these over magnitude 6.0 in addition to other mild earthquakes in the same period in the regions of Coquimbo and Valparaíso.[72]​.

March 2012 Replica

On March 25, 2012, an aftershock of the 2010 earthquake was generated, which reached a magnitude of 7.1 M. Its epicenter was located in the Maule Region, 24 km northeast of the city of Constitución "Constitución (Chile)"). The earthquake occurred at 7:37 p.m. local time and had a maximum magnitude of VIII on the Mercalli scale in the towns near the epicenter. The earthquake was felt from the Coquimbo Region to the Los Lagos Region; The greatest strength of the movement was registered in the Metropolitan regions of Santiago, O'Higgins, El Maule and Biobío. The National Emergency Office of Chile issued a preventive tsunami warning for the coasts of Maule, thus evacuating more than 7,000 people from the coastline of that region of the country.[73] In addition, there were house collapses, minor damage to structures, and panic among people who were in shopping centers and places of recreation at that time. In Santiago, some injuries were reported due to the fall of masonry from the Maipú Votive Temple and a movie theater at the Mall Florida Center. In the city of Parral "Parral (Chile)") an elderly man died as a result of cardiac arrest caused by the impact of the earthquake.[74]​.

On March 26, the acting Minister of the Interior Rodrigo Ubilla, accompanied by the Ministers of Health (Jaime Mañalich) and Housing and Urban Planning (Magdalena Matte) traveled to the Maule area to verify the state of the infrastructure of the places and verify possible damage, otherwise it was confirmed that the hospitals in the area withstood the movement in good conditions, with the exception of the Constitución Hospital, which had to be reviewed by calculating engineers.[75]​ The level The expansion of the tremor made it perceptible in some localities in Argentina, as it was in the city of Mendoza.[76]​ This same telluric movement caused nervousness in the people who at that moment were witnessing the soccer match between the Colo-Colo and Palestino teams, which was played in the Monumental Stadium of Santiago "Estadio Monumental (Chile)"), causing many people to even leave the venue during the game, which was never stopped.[77]​.

In the educational field, the authorities were forced to suspend classes for Monday, March 26 in the commune of Constitución, since many families until Monday morning still remained in safe areas due to fear of a possible outflow of the sea, added to the cut of water and electricity supplies, which were replaced during the day.[78] Despite everything, it was only a 50 cm high storm surge that hit the Maule and Bíobío region.

Due to the underwater location of the epicenter and its proximity to the coast, much of the damage was caused by the tsunami associated with the seismic movement over the coastal towns. This mass of water hit the Chilean coast at high speed in a few minutes, reaching the coastal towns of the Maule and Biobío regions. In Constitución "Constitución (Chile)"), the first wave of the tsunami arrived about half an hour after the main earthquake, which according to witnesses exceeded eight meters in height, being followed a few minutes later by a second stronger wave of about ten meters and finally a third, similar to the first.[79] The sea entered towns such as Pelluhue and Curanipe, exceeding 150 meters inland in Pichilemu, Iloca, Duao and up to 200 meters in Coi Coi. In the port of Talcahuano, waves of up to 5 meters penetrated the city center and the sea level rose above 2.4 meters.[80]​ The port of Valparaíso faced a rise of 1.7 meters in the ocean level.[79]​.

The tsunami spread across much of the South Pacific. One of the most affected areas was insular Chile and, in particular, the Juan Fernández archipelago, where the waves entered more than 300 meters into the town of San Juan Bautista "San Juan Bautista (Chile)"), on Robinson Crusoe Island, one hour after the earthquake.[81] On Easter Island, the population managed to be evacuated, but finally the tsunami did not impact with great force, the sea rising only 0.35 meters more than six hours after the earthquake.

For its part, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center generated a tsunami warning for much of the Pacific Ocean coast. A total of 53 countries were alerted,[13]​ although in the end the effects were less than expected. The tsunami impacted the coasts of Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Costa Rica with a rise in sea level that did not exceed half a meter. In Hiva'Oa, one of the Marquesas islands, belonging to French Polynesia, the rise reached 1.79 meters, being the record of the largest tsunami outside of Chile. The effect of the Chilean tsunami reached Hawaii, reaching nearly a meter of increase in water level, and the coasts of California and New Zealand.[82] Finally, on February 28, the last effects of the tsunami were detected on the Japanese island of Minamitorishima, where the sea rose just 10 centimeters.[83]​.

• - Arrival times of the tsunami in the Pacific.

• - Changes in sea level detected in Lima, Peru.

• - A beach closed due to a tsunami warning, in Sydney, Australia.

• - Kiosks destroyed after the arrival of the tsunami in Pichilemu, O'Higgins, Chile.

El efecto del terremoto, debido a su alta magnitud, fue devastador. Gran parte de las localidades costeras de las regiones del Maule y del Biobío quedaron completamente destruidas. Fuentes oficiales cifraron el día después al desastre en medio millón el número de viviendas destruidas y en al menos otro millón y medio el de dañadas en alguna medida.[84]​[9]​ El sismo, que fue percibido con fuerza por cerca del 80% de la población chilena,[85]​ dejó una cifra estimada de 2 millones de damnificados, más del 10% de la población de Chile.[9]​.

Durante las primeras horas, el número de víctimas fatales subió rápidamente, a medida que los organismos gubernamentales lograban entablar comunicación con las diversas localidades afectadas. A mediodía del 27, la Oficina Nacional de Emergencia del Ministerio del Interior (ONEMI) determinó 78 víctimas en todo el país, 34 en la Región del Maule.[86]​ A fines del mismo día, el número se encumbró a 214 fallecidos y 15 desaparecidos,[87]​ y ya para el día 28, llegaron a 708 fallecidos a nivel nacional, concentrados principalmente en el Maule, con 541.[88]​ Ya para el 1 de marzo, la cifra comenzó a acotarse. La ONEMI anunció ese día 723 fallecidos,[89]​ que para el día siguiente aumentó a 796.[90]​ El 3 de marzo, cuando la cifra de fallecidos llegó a 799,[91]​ el gobierno de Chile publicó la primera lista oficial de estos, aunque parcial.[92]​.

El conteo de víctimas fatales hasta el 3 de marzo fue entregado diariamente por la ONEMI. Sin embargo, las cifras fueron criticadas debido a su inexactitud, especialmente respecto al conteo de víctimas en la Región del Maule, que eran muy superiores a las reales. Tras ello, el Ministerio del Interior tomó la determinación de entregar un nuevo conteo de víctimas fatales, incluyendo solamente a las víctimas plenamente identificadas por el Servicio Médico Legal (SML) y las instituciones accesorias. Este proceso, iniciado el día 4 de marzo, quedó a cargo de la Subsecretaría del Interior, encabezada por Patricio Rosende.[93]​ Rosende cada día nombró uno a uno desde el Palacio de La Moneda a los fallecidos identificados;[94]​ según él, “quienes han muerto en esta catástrofe son personas, y no números, y mientras no tengamos nosotros la certeza total de quiénes son los chilenos que han fallecido en esta catástrofe nos vamos a limitar a informar de aquellos respecto de quienes sí podemos acreditar su identidad”.[95]​.

Tras el cambio de gobierno realizado el 11 de marzo, el nuevo subsecretario del Interior Rodrigo Ubilla afirmó que una nueva lista de fallecidos sería entregada para actualizar las cifras entregadas por Rosende, la cual cometía diversos errores debido a la falta de información precisa en su momento. La nueva lista fue publicada el 19 de marzo, reduciendo el número a 452 fallecidos, de los cuales 359 tenían completamente identificados tanto su RUN como su causa de deceso.[98]​ Sin embargo, al analizar el listado se determinó que muchos casos correspondían a personas repetidas o diversas personas con el mismo RUN.[99]​ El gobierno reconoció el error y publicó un nuevo listado el 20 de marzo consignando 342 fallecidos identificados; sin embargo, el error se repitió nuevamente en dos ocasiones. En su cuarta publicación el mismo día, Ubilla confirmó el número de 342 fallecidos identificados y al menos 62 fallecidos sin extender su certificado de defunción.[100]​ Una actualización de las cifras elevó la cifra de muertos totales a 432, el 30 de marzo.[101]​ Durante el año 2010, la cifra de muertos fue constantemente actualizada a medida que se recababan más datos; el 31 de enero de 2011 se estableció un número de 525 muertos y 23 desaparecidos.[4]​.

Una de las principales causas de muerte fue la asfixia por inmersión producto del tsunami, que cobró la vida de más de un centenar de personas.[102]​ En enero de 2011, la Fiscalía Nacional publicó el listado oficial de fallecidos producto del tsunami, tanto por asfixia por inmersión como por traumatismos producto del impacto de las olas. El resultado fue de 156 personas fallecidas (82 hombres y 74 mujeres) y al menos 25 personas (14 hombres y 11 mujeres) desaparecidas.[103]​.

Respecto al terremoto del 11 de marzo, se reportaron dos personas fallecidas en Pichilemu y Talca como producto de fallas cardíacas.[104]​.

Coquimbo Region

The earthquake was felt throughout the Coquimbo Region, with the southern area being, specifically in the province of Choapa, where it was recorded with greatest strength, reaching an intensity of VI on the Mercalli scale in Los Vilos and Illapel. In Los Vilos, in addition, a seaweed was reported missing as a result of the high tides caused by the tsunami.[105]​.

In the La Serena-Coquimbo conurbation, where the intensity was V degrees Mercalli, there was no damage to public infrastructure. In Coquimbo, storm surges related to the main tsunami were recorded that affected the coastal area of ​​Avenida Costanera "Avenida Costanera (Coquimbo)"), causing minor damage to that road and part of the private property located there. In La Serena "La Serena (Chile)"), as a result of the power outage, isolated looting and robberies were recorded shortly after the earthquake, in addition to minor damage at the La Florida Airport "Aeropuerto La Florida (Chile)"), which was quickly reestablished to cooperate in receiving national and international flights, redirected from the Santiago International Airport.

Valparaiso Region

Although it was felt throughout the region, the earthquake mainly affected the coastal areas in the province of Valparaíso, province of Marga Marga and the province of San Antonio where the highest intensity was recorded. In Viña del Mar, several buildings suffered serious damage, and two were evacuated as a precaution. 30 homes in Viña del Mar had irrecoverable damage, more than 300 people were affected and the Palacio Vergara building was damaged.[106] More than 200 homes, the Palacio Subercaseaux and the Prat Pier were some of the main damages recorded in Valparaíso, which was mainly affected in the old town sector and the port area. The Carlos Van Buren hospital suffered some flooding and structural damage. In the port of San Antonio "San Antonio (Chile)") and in Llolleo, the impact of the tsunami caused serious damage to the port infrastructure and homes near the coast.[107]​.

However, it was the Juan Fernández archipelago that was most affected by the earthquake, even though it was not felt due to being more than 600 kilometers off the continental South American coast. An hour after the earthquake, the tsunami generated by it hit the islands. In the only town in the archipelago, San Juan Bautista "San Juan Bautista (Chile)") on Robinson Crusoe Island, the sea level rose sharply, rising more than 300 meters and covering half of the town. The main buildings were destroyed, including the Port Captaincy, the municipal school and the Illustrious Municipality of Juan Fernández among others. According to witnesses, the same residents alerted the community of the waves reaching the bay, but many failed to understand the warning and ran to the beach instead of fleeing to the inland hills. Six people died from the impact of the waters and another five were transported by the Chilean Air Force to be treated in Valparaíso.[81]​ On Easter Island, meanwhile, the Navy alert allowed the evacuation of its population inland, although the tsunami was of low intensity and caused no damage or victims.[81]​.

The region's rail and road infrastructure was also damaged. The usual service of the Limache-Puerto Train suffered an interruption on the Las Cucharas bridge, which connects the El Salto and Quilpué stations, due to a serious structural failure in one of its pillars.[108]​ The service was resumed on March 8, but in two sections: the first from the Puerto station to El Salto, and the second from Quilpué to Limache in more combinations,[109]​ hoping to resume the service in its entirety on the day March 19.[110]​ In addition, there were outages due to falling walkways on Route 5 North "Ruta 5 (Chile)") near Nogales "Nogales (Chile)"), La Calera "Calera (Chile)") and Llaillay; landslides on Route E-41 in the province of Petorca and closure of the Lo Gallardo bridges in Llolleo and Yali in Santo Domingo "Santo Domingo (Chile)").[111]​.

Santiago Metropolitan Region

In Santiago de Chile and throughout the Metropolitan Region, several buildings suffered serious damage, although generally minor compared to those suffered during the 1985 earthquake. Among the unused buildings in the capital of Chile, the partial collapse of the Church of Divina Providencia stands out, from which its bell tower was detached, and the Basilica of the Savior, already damaged in the earthquake 25 years ago. Likewise, national monuments such as the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Central Market, the Cousiño Palace, the Central House of the University of Chile and the Equestrian Club suffered damages of varying degrees, in the latter it is worth highlighting that the original enclosure whose buildings date from the end of the century and the beginning of the century did not suffer damage except the perimeter wall built in the 1970s[112]​ while the Santa Lucía hill had to close its walk due to the damage and road accidents experienced. there.[113]​ Various health centers were affected in their structure, with the Félix Bulnes Hospital being the most affected, having to be closed and its patients evacuated.[114]​ Educational establishments such as the Manuel Barros Borgoño High School had to be closed and its students relocated to other centers.

The La Moneda Palace, seat of the national government and one of the few colonial buildings in Santiago that has survived the earthquakes, suffered minor damage such as detachment of friezes in interior patios and cracks in some walls, and something more serious, such as complete cracks in the Salón Prat, located between the front façade and the Patio de los Cañones. Although one of the most affected areas corresponds to the old town of the city, in sectors such as the Brasil neighborhood and the communes of Santiago "Santiago (commune)") and Quinta Normal, most of the damaged buildings correspond to the most recent construction in this sector, with an average of less than ten years of construction. This corresponds to the damage to buildings of little age in sectors such as Maipú "Maipú (Chile)"), Ñuñoa and the Business City that were left unusable or seriously damaged. Many of these constructions would have violated the anti-seismic safety standards officially imposed since 1960 or were built on soils not suitable for housing construction.[115] One of the clearest examples was that of two four-story buildings in Maipú in which some floors collapsed and were on the verge of causing the complete collapse of the structure.

Transportation infrastructure suffered isolated damage. The Santiago Metro resisted without any type of structural damage and only some stations faced falls of minor elements such as advertising notices, so the service was resumed on the 28th on four of the five lines; Merino Benítez suffered massive rockfalls in its interior finishes and walkways, as well as air conditioning ducts, so it was closed for a day. Route 68 that connects the city of Valparaíso with Santiago was closed due to the danger of landslides.[118]​ Of the four existing urban highways, only the Vespucio Norte Express Highway faced significant damage as a result of the detachment of some sections and three bridges, with one year estimated as the deadline to repair these problems.[119]​ Some walkways and numerous crossings, meanwhile, collapsed on the Pan-American Highway, causing some cuts. The earthquake caused the collapse of telephone lines, making it difficult to confirm the damage, along with a blackout of the entire Central Interconnected System, from Regions III to

Liberator General Bernardo O'Higgins Region

According to ONEMI, 130,237 people are affected in the O'Higgins Region, with a number of 14,212 homes destroyed.[125]​ The central government declared a "state of catastrophe" throughout the Region in order to provide extraordinary resources for rescue and reconstruction efforts.[126]​ The O'Higgins Region faced various damages, although these achieved greater notoriety in the rural world. Several communities were isolated and communication with them took considerably longer than in urban areas. Many of the homes in the area, built in adobe, were completely destroyed or unusable. In the commune of Peralillo, 90% of the homes fell, including many that were of a heritage nature.[127]​ Meanwhile, in Chépica "Chépica (Chile)"), 60% of its homes are uninhabitable and the temple of San Antonio de Padua completely collapsed, leaving only its central tower standing.[128]​ The destruction of the homes was not the only problem in the rural towns: the Placilla cemetery suffered. serious damage and many bodies were exposed, generating an infectious focus in the sector.[129]​.

In Rancagua, the regional capital, the convent of La Merced "Iglesia de La Merced (Rancagua)") was destroyed. 45,192 people were affected in the commune and regarding homes, 7,660 had minor damage, 3,880 had serious problems and 505 were destroyed.[130] San Fernando "San Fernando (Chile)") had few problems; However, its neighboring city of Santa Cruz "Santa Cruz (Chile)") suffered several collapses of homes and historic buildings, accumulating the highest number of deaths at the regional level.[131] The sanctuary of Santa Rosa de Pelequén was left with serious structural damage.[132] In the coastal sector, the tsunami wreaked havoc, entering several blocks inland in the city of Pichilemu and dragging two children out to sea. In Bucalemu, the sea entered up to more than 600 meters outside the coastline.[133]​.

In addition, the earthquake caused several damages to the road infrastructure, with cuts on Route 5 South "Route 5 (Chile)"), the Fruit Highway and the Acid Highway.[134]​ Despite the initial warnings, the Convento Viejo reservoir withstood the earthquake and was not in danger of collapsing.[133]​ Meanwhile, significant damage was suffered by Monticello Grand Casino, the largest casino in South America (located in Mostazal, next to the border between the Sixth and Metropolitan regions), having to evacuate 3,500 people from their premises at the time of the earthquake.[135]​ The earthquake would also have caused serious damage to the wine industry in the Colchagua Valley, causing a loss of millions of liters as a result of the destruction of wineries and the lack of irrigation due to the absence of drinking water and electricity, with Merlot being one of the most affected strains.[136]​.

On March 11, the impact of a new earthquake and its aftershocks spread mainly over Region VI, although it was considerably smaller than the seismic movement of February 27. According to ONEMI, only the fall of a pedestrian walkway on Route 5, some outages of the electrical service and a slightly larger wave on the coast that did not cause damage were recorded, despite the preventive tsunami warning initially issued. O'Higgins.[138]​.

Maule Region

The Maule Region was undoubtedly one of the most affected in the entire country. According to the initial figures provided by ONEMI, there were more than 580 officially deceased people, close to three quarters of the total at the national level;[91]​ however, the Army determined that the figure was much lower (316 deceased), a difference explained mainly by the initial inclusion of missing people in the list of deaths and those who died in hospitals due to natural causes.[139]​[140]​.

Gran parte de la destrucción se concentró en el sector costero, afectado por el tsunami generado. Así, localidades como Constitución "Constitución (Chile)"), Iloca, Curanipe y Pelluhue prácticamente desaparecieron. En Constitución, la cifra de muertos inicial se elevó por sobre las 350 personas,[141]​ siendo luego ajustada a 172.[139]​ Luego de que el impacto del terremoto destruyera gran parte de las viviendas, media hora después sobrevino la primera de tres olas que entraron a la ciudad, superando los 8 metros cada una, y que aprovecharon la desembocadura del río Maule para ingresar con mayor facilidad hasta la Plaza de Armas de la ciudad.[79]​ Gran parte de The deaths corresponded to about two hundred people who, at the time of the earthquake, were camping on a small island near the mouth.[142]​[143]​.

For their part, the cities of Cauquenes, Talca, Linares "Linares (Chile)"), Curicó and Parral "Parral (Chile)"), as well as a large part of the towns in the Region, suffered devastating structural damage. The ancient and centuries-old adobe buildings of these cities, which had not suffered major damage in the previous earthquakes of 1960 and 1985 due to the relative distance between both epicenters, were this time very seriously damaged or completely destroyed. More than half of the historic center of these cities was devastated, including various historical monuments and centuries-old buildings of colonial origin. In Talca, for example, more than 8,000 traditional homes suffered major or total damage, a large part of them in the historic center of the city.[144] The Pan-American Highway was seriously damaged due to the collapse of the bridge over the Claro River "Río Claro (Talca)") while access from this route to Parral, Cauquenes and Chanco were disabled, which together caused enormous difficulties in establishing communication between the capital and the affected cities of the VII and the VIII Region.[145]​ The tsunami that affected Constitución also caused serious damage to the CELCO pulp plants, so industrial activities had to be suspended.[146]​.

The earthquake also affected one of the main national parks in central Chile. A fissure in the rocks caused the waters that give life to the waterfalls in the Radal Siete Tazas National Park to leak into the underground layers, leaving them completely dry.[147]​.

• - Branch of the Credit and Investment Bank in Curicó.

• - Ruins of the building of the newspaper La Prensa de Curicó.

Biobío Region

Due to its size and large population, it was Greater Concepción that concentrated the greatest concern in the Biobío Region. The city of Concepción "Concepción (Chile)") suffered serious damage to homes, buildings and infrastructure. Although a large part of the population was in their homes when the earthquake began, at that time there were a large number of people in the Barrio Estación "Barrio Estación (Concepción)"), the main entertainment center in Concepción. Carabineros had to use megaphones to control people fleeing from bars and restaurants.[148] Many people from Concepción and Talcahuano immediately moved to the highest areas to flee the tsunami that hit the Penquista coast. In the port of Talcahuano, the impact of the sea dragged ships towards the center of the city, covering its streets with water, mud and debris. The naval base, the ASMAR shipyards and the Town Hall building suffered significant damage, as did the port infrastructure, affecting a large number of containers that were flooded. The Huáscar monitor, meanwhile, was swept away by the tsunami, changing its usual orientation from north to south to west to east.[80]​ The damage to the naval base caused hundreds of explosive materials (such as "Bengala (pyrotechnics)" flares) to be dragged by the tsunami towards Talcahuano Bay, so the Chilean Navy decided to prohibit navigation until the material was rescued.[149]​.

In the regional capital, along with the landslides, various fires were recorded, such as the one that devastated the Faculty of Chemical Sciences of the University of Concepción. The conurbation was cut off as a result of the destruction of the main access road arteries, especially the bridges that cross the Biobío River: to the detachment of a gap in the Llacolén Bridge and structural damage to the Juan Pablo II Bridge, was added the complete destruction of the Old Bridge "Puente Viejo (Chile)"). Among the affected structures, the collapse of the Alto Río apartment building stands out, making it one of the symbols of the catastrophe. Located on Los Carrera Avenue, at the access to the Llacolén Bridge, it had been inaugurated just a few months before the earthquake event. The fifteen-story building collapsed, flipping horizontally, leaving eight people dead and another 78 injured.[148]

The coast north of Concepción was particularly devastated. Said practically disappeared, with 80% of its homes swept away by the tsunami.[150]​ The population of Caleta Tumbes quickly fled to the hills to avoid being swept away by the waters, having to stay there to spend the night in tents.[151]​.

• - Building collapses in the center of Concepción.

• - Faculty of Chemical Sciences of the University of Concepción.

• - The Llacolén bridge over the Biobío river.

Towards the south, the situation was devastating in Coronel "Coronel (Chile)"), Lota and several towns in the province of Arauco. The central sector of Coronel suffered serious damage,[152]​ as well as part of the Isidora Cousiño Park in Lota and the access to the Coal Museum in Chiflón del Diablo, although its underground galleries did not suffer considerable damage.[153]​ The town of Tirúa, one of the poorest in the country, was completely destroyed: like all the buildings located up to four blocks from the coastline, the municipal building disappeared, and some homes were washed away for about a kilometer by the waves that followed the course of the local river. A similar situation occurred on the nearby Mocha Island, where the tsunami reached one of its largest sizes, reaching 20 meters in height according to witnesses, and eliminated any vestige of civilization on its coastal plains.[154]​.

Araucanía Region

In the Region of La Araucanía, the earthquake was felt with great intensity, causing several collapses in homes and the interruption of basic services. In the regional capital, Temuco, damage was caused to the theater and the municipality, with the condition of the Hernán Henríquez Hospital being the most serious. Nearly 450 patients had to be evacuated due to the serious damage to the hospital premises, after which many were transferred to the premises of the new Regional Hospital, which had to open its doors urgently even though its construction was not completed.[161][162]​.

One of the most affected areas was the city of Angol. Most of its commercial premises, as well as the city hospital, were completely destroyed.[163] In the coastal area of ​​the region, mainly Queule "Queule (Chile)"), Toltén and Puerto Saavedra "Saavedra (Chile)") suffered the effects of the tsunami, which flooded the areas closest to the sea and destroyed docks and fishing boats. In this last town, a pond of water fell on five homes, killing a mother and her three-month-old daughter there.[162]​.

In Lake Villarrica, meanwhile, environmental experts had to evaluate the state of its waters, after the earthquake lifted a significant amount of sediment from its bottom, altering the existing biological balance.[164]​ Also, alerts were established for the sectors near the Llaima and Villarrica volcanoes due to alterations in their behavior.[62]​.

Los Rios Region

Although the earthquake was felt with great intensity in the Los Ríos Region, the damage was considerably less compared to the other regions and there were also no fatalities identified by the government.[97]​ In Valdivia, the damage was concentrated in the Costanera sector, whose asphalt cracked, in addition to walkways and some buildings such as the Provincial Government.[165][166]​.

The tsunami caused alerts in coastal areas such as Corral "Corral (Chile)") and Niebla "Niebla (Chile)"), where its inhabitants immediately fled to the hills, remembering the destruction caused by the historic Valdivia earthquake of 1960; The sea, although it was collected, did not cause flooding. The Chilean Navy immediately restricted the departure of all types of vessels, leaving the commune of Corral isolated. Meanwhile, in the interior areas, minor damage was recorded: in Lanco some walls fell, in Los Lagos "Los Lagos (commune)") a walkway fell and in Panguipulli some streets broke.[165]​.

public safety

Minutes after the earthquake occurred, in various affected cities there were robberies and looting of commercial stores, buildings and homes, especially in those most affected, taking advantage of the physical damage, the fallen walls, the flight of the owners to the hills and the lack of sufficient police presence, especially after the collapse of many barracks and police stations.

The looting, vandalism and other acts of this nature took place for several days, which caused Michelle Bachelet's government to be strongly criticized, accusing it of political ineffectiveness. Even the former member of the Patriotic Front Manuel Rodríguez Vassili Carrillo, currently an active social leader in the Lota coal zone as well as a small businessman, publicly asked for the intervention of the military, arguing that this has no political color and that the criminals had taken to the streets.

In Constitución "Constitución (Chile)"), the looting occurred as soon as the tsunami waters moved away from the city center. The city's three supermarkets were emptied by people in search of food, water and other essential products, a situation that was repeated in the few businesses in the city that managed to remain standing. However, at nightfall, the thefts of material goods in homes became widespread while the contingent of about fifty police officers was not able to control the situation. Added to this was the state of the city jail, which had to evacuate 103 inmates as a result of the structural damage it presented. On Sunday the 28th, the situation began to calm down with the successive arrival of police reinforcements: 150 new troops arrived that same day, and 40 from Santiago and 13 from Talca the next.[143]​.

The situation, however, was stronger in Greater Concepción, where hours after the disaster several lootings occurred in different establishments,[168]​ which led the mayor of Concepción "Concepción (Chile)"), Jacqueline Van Rysselberghe, to demand the action of the military to resolve the chaos that existed in the city.[169]​ On Sunday the 28th, a Penquista Líder "Líder (supermarket)") hypermarket was completely looted, but not only by people in search of basic necessities; The images of people leaving the premises with plasma screen televisions and other appliances became an emblem of the situation of lack of control and a source of extensive debate.[170]​.

In order to "guarantee the situation of public order in the most affected area and accelerate the delivery of aid", following a strong initiative from the chambers and being led by the National Renewal benches, the Chilean Executive Branch decided the day after the earthquake to decree a "state of constitutional catastrophe exception" in the regions of Maule and Biobío for a period of 30 days, which gave free rein to the Army to intervene if necessary, in order to guarantee security, in addition to helping in the tasks of debris removal and reconstruction.[171]​ At first the application of this measure was approached differently in the two most affected areas: although in the Biobío Region it was adopted immediately, which meant an improvement in the security situation of the city with the cessation of looting,[172]​ in the Maule Region the decision was put on hold when the military authorities understood that the situation was not so dramatic.[173]​ The balance of the situation first night under the effects of the curfew established in Concepción, the first that was decreed in Chile since the return of democracy "Transition to democracy (Chile)"), resulted in one death from a gunshot wound and 55 detainees for violating said government measure, who joined the 105 people also detained on Sunday for participating in acts of vandalism. In towns in communes close to Concepción such as Chiguayante, San Pedro de la Paz or Hualqui, however, their neighbors reported that the police and military presence had been zero.[174]​.

The establishment of the curfew did not mean the end of the problems in Concepción. During the day after the first night under the effects of the curfew, looting continued to occur and a La Polar store was even set on fire.[175]​ In order to definitively establish calm and thus ensure the delivery of food to the population that was intended to go from house to house, the government decided that, from the second day, the curfew would be extended to 18 hours, from 6:00 p.m. to the following noon.[176]​ The then president Bachelet sent a message to the nation in which she assured that the police and military authorities had instructions to act “with all the necessary severity” to end the looting and pillage.[177]​ In the following days, the curfew was extended throughout the Biobío Region and some communes of Maule (those near Curicó, Talca, Cauquenes and Constitución "Constitución (Chile)").[167]​.

The improvement in security that was experienced during the following days in the affected areas led to the authorities gradually reducing the extension of the confinement hours.[178] Police and military action in the following days, once the situation of chaos in the main cities had calmed down, led to the seizure of several of the species stolen during the looting and many were even returned voluntarily due to the possibility of being prosecuted, recovering close to 2 million dollars in goods.[179]​ In the rest of the country, the public security situation remained relatively normal. Although on March 11 the government of Sebastián Piñera decreed a “state of catastrophe” in the O'Higgins Region, among its first measures upon taking office, it refused to extend the curfew to that area as it did not consider it necessary at that time, trying to maintain calm and tranquility. This region remained under the command of a commander of the plaza, Brigadier General Antonio Yackcich.[138]​.

In Santiago de Chile, however, some specific looting was recorded in the northern sector of the city. On the 28th, attempts to loot were recorded in two supermarkets in Quilicura, one in Conchalí and some premises in Lampa "Lampa (Chile)"), being largely stopped by the action of Carabineros Special Forces, which detained 19 people.[180]​[181]​ Although the police action managed to control almost all of the looting attempts, in the following days rumors arose that they had spread throughout the Region Metropolitan. Through Twitter, many users echoed the alleged wave of looting on Paseo Ahumada and in commercial neighborhoods such as Meiggs and Patronato, which led many owners to close their stores to avoid chaos and nearly 700 telephone complaints with no real basis. Carabineros and the regional authorities insisted that looting was not occurring and that it only corresponded to unfounded rumors.[182]​[183][184]​ Despite the authorities' call for calm, in various communes there were nights of vigil by their inhabitants who awaited with sticks, knives and firearms the arrival of mobs willing to loot, experiencing a kind of collective hysteria where the existence of mobs was assured. although it was never certain about these. Some mayors also participated in these situations and even requested military deployment and the establishment of a curfew in the capital, which ultimately did not happen.[185]​[186]​.

Basic services

Once the main earthquake occurred, almost all of the basic services provided to citizens failed. The electric power distribution network was one of the first to collapse due to falling poles, cutting cables and other incidents in some substations. In the absence of electricity, services that depended on it such as mobile telephony, landline telephony and the supply of drinking water also collapsed in places where the use of pumps was required.

Fifteen days after the earthquake occurred, on March 14 at 8:44 p.m. local time, there was a new widespread power outage, which affected the entire Central Interconnected System.[187] The blackout was caused by the failure of a 500 kilovolt transformer located in the Charrúa electrical substation, located in the commune of Cabrero "Cabrero (Chile)"), Biobío Region. The second existing transformer in the plant could not withstand the energy overload, producing the blackout.[188]​ The Charrúa substation is one of the main nodes of the network, being the link between the main transmission trunk and the hydroelectric plants of the La Laja lagoon and the upper Biobío,[189]​ which have a total power of 2,340 MW (25% of the SIC's total).

The electrical transmission was restored gradually, and at 11:30 p.m. it should have been practically restored throughout the country, with the exception of the Biobío Region.[187]​ At 12:30 a.m., it had been restored to 88%, which increased to 93% an hour later, leaving 40% of Biobío with supply.[188]​ The blackout caused shock among a large part of the citizens, including a party. football and a concert that had to be suspended, while the passengers of the Santiago Metro had to be evacuated.[188]​.

The distribution of drinking water suffered from cuts mainly in the regions of Maule and Biobío, where less than 15% of the population was supplied during the first hours of the earthquake; In the least affected regions, the cuts were sectored, with the Metropolitan Region having 96% normalized supply and the Valparaíso Region, 75%. The replacement of the service was managed quickly and, as of March 2, regions V, VI, IX and Metropolitan had more than 95% replacement, while Maule had 62.1% and Biobío, 43.8%, totaling 87.5% at the national level.[190]​ In these last two regions, the fire departments organized the delivery of drinking water[191]​ along with cistern trucks. state and private to supply the population, covering 11% of the country five days after the earthquake.[192] Coverage was expanded, reaching almost its entirety in the least affected regions one week after the earthquake and over 90% in Maule; However, in Biobío, coverage exceeded 70% just ten days after the seismic event and localities such as Arauco "Arauco (commune)"), Dichato and Lebu lacked normal distribution until two weeks later as a result of the destruction of the necessary infrastructure.[190] In much of Greater Valparaíso, meanwhile, a scheduled outage had to be carried out between March 9 and 11 in order to repair the Las Vegas aqueduct, which It had serious flaws.[190]​.

Displaced

The mountain range near the coast, located between parallels 35° and 38°, became the place chosen by thousands of people from coastal towns to take refuge from possible tsunamis caused by the constant aftershocks that began to occur immediately after the earthquake. The total number of displaced people from the Maule and Biobío regions who chose the hills near their homes as refuge was estimated at more than 500,000 people, although there was no official figure.[210]​.

Solidarity campaigns and humanitarian aid

In the days following the earthquake, various solidarity campaigns were organized "Solidarity (sociology)"). Television channels and other media outlets spontaneously organized large food drives for earthquake victims in Pelluhue, Constitución "Constitución (Chile)") and Concepción "Concepción (Chile)"), among other locations. Various companies carried out donation campaigns in their premises, especially supermarkets, department stores and household items, generally carrying out "one and one" campaigns, in which each purchase or donation made by citizens is repeated by the company, or they gave percentages of their sales to charitable foundations. Homecenter Sodimac even carried out the campaign within all its branches throughout Latin America.[211]​.

Volunteering, however, was one of the main sources of humanitarian aid to the devastated areas. Thousands of young people organized together with sports, political, religious and academic associations to organize collections, collect donations of food, clothing and toiletries.[212]​[213]​ In fact, one of the first organizations to react was the Federation of Students of the University of Chile, which managed to summon thousands of young people to collect aid, set up collection centers and plan volunteer work. Many even made trips to the affected areas to support the reconstruction efforts and the delivery of goods and food.[214] Within these campaigns, however, some accidents occurred, such as the crash of a private plane in the vicinity of Tomé in charge of coordinating the aid actions carried out by the San Sebastián University, killing its six crew members, including the vice-rector and a dean of that institution and the former president of the youth of the Democratic Union. Independiente,[215]​ and the attack of a first-year engineering student at the University of Chile while she was handing out flyers on Tobalaba Avenue, which caused her death.[216]​.

Meanwhile, the National Television Association, the Government of Chile and the foundations Teletón, Caritas Chile, Fundación para la Superación de la Pobreza, Un Techo Para Chile and Hogar de Cristo, organized a special telethon on March 5 and 6 in order to raise funds for the victims. The even millions of dollars, to build 30 thousand emergency homes; However, the collection at the national level exceeded all expectations, as did the donations provided by various companies and organizations. At the close of the event that lasted 25 hours, 30,212,775,555 Chilean pesos were raised, double the goal. Days later, the final audit delivered a total of 45,974,813,684 pesos, of which 55% was donated by companies and 45% by the Chilean population. The excess money compared to the goal was given to the Teletón Foundation for the reconstruction of the schools destroyed by the earthquake.[217]​.

A group of businessmen who are passionate about nautical activities, who were leading a project to circumnavigate the planet by crossing Cape Horn when the earthquake occurred, formed "Desafío Levantemos Chile" as a way to deliver aid to the victims. Its main focus was the reconstruction of schools in the most affected areas and helping fishermen who had lost their boats.[218]​ "Desafío Levantemos Chile" managed to build more than 17 modular schools in two months and they hope to exceed twenty.[219]​.

International reactions

As soon as the news of the devastating earthquake across the planet became known, the various governments and international organizations expressed their solidarity with Chile. Even though the greatest gestures came from the countries close to and with the greatest relations with Chile throughout its history, even governments that do not maintain relations with the country offered their condolences and support, as in the case of Abkhazia, Kosovo and Western Sahara.[220]​[221]​[222]​.

In the first hours, multiple governments, charities and non-profit organizations offered to deliver humanitarian aid to Chile. The Chilean government, through the ambassador to the United Nations, expressed its gratitude for the expressions of support and declined to receive help until the magnitude of the tragedy and its main needs had been assessed.[223] Two days after the earthquake, the ambassador formally requested in Geneva "Geneva (Switzerland)") the help of the UN and the sending of teams from said organization to assess the damage as well as assistance to help the victims. Specifically, the diplomat requested the urgent shipment of mobile bridges, satellite phones, generating equipment, tents and medical supplies.[224]​.

The governments of Argentina,[225]​ Brazil,[226]​ Cuba,[227]​ Peru[228]​ and the United States immediately supported the Chilean authorities, sending supplies, medical and humanitarian personnel, as well as field hospitals located in the affected areas. The Bolivian government sent tons of water in a few hours to the damaged cities,[229]​ while Mexico sent personnel to establish water purification centers.[230]​ Argentina also increased its shipment of natural gas to Chile sixfold so that they could decompress the demand for diesel for thermoelectric plants.[231]​ Germany,[232]​ Japan[233]​ and Switzerland,[234]​ meanwhile, sent specialist teams to support the rescue and reconstruction work.

The presidents of Brazil and Peru, Lula da Silva and Alan García,[228]​ traveled personally to Chile to be able to deliver their contributions to the relief and reconstruction efforts, as did US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.[235]​.

Culture and sport

The sixth and last night of the LI Viña del Mar International Song Festival was scheduled for Saturday the 27th, which was suspended due to the earthquake and its constant aftershocks. Thus, the most important musical event in the country was suspended for the first time in fifty years of history. The same day it was announced that sporting events, concerts and others would be canceled for the same reasons. Among these events, the V International Congress of the Spanish Language stood out, which would be attended by King Juan Carlos I of Spain, and the friendly matches of the national soccer team against Costa Rica and North Korea to be held on March 3.[236]​[237]​ The concert by the group NOFX, scheduled for March 1, was initially suspended until further notice, but later its definitive suspension was confirmed.[238]​ The A-ha, Guns concerts N' Roses, Dream Theater and Los Fabulosos Cadillacs were rescheduled.

Continuing in the field of football, it is worth mentioning the great gesture of solidarity that the U.D. Almería of Spain on March 6, the day they faced F.C. Barcelona in an official match of the Spanish First Division at the Mediterranean Games Stadium in Almería. Almería, which did not have any advertising on its shirt that year, decided to play this match with a special shirt in which the motto "FUERZA CHILE!" could be clearly read on the chest area. The result of that match was 2-2, with goals from Domingo Cisma, and Carles Puyol in his own goal for the U.D. Almería, and Lionel Messi twice for F.C. Barcelona.[239] This gesture reached Chile through various news programs, as well as to different Chilean clubs. The 24 shirts worn by the Almería players were auctioned, raising 32,600,000 pesos (about $63,000).[240] The money raised was donated to humble soccer clubs, to the Home and Shelter of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan of Molina, in the Maule Region, one of the most affected by the earthquake, and to a merchant in the town of Iloca, south of Chile.

The round of 16 match of the 2010 Davis Cup was postponed by one day due to the delay in the arrival of the Israeli team to play the series in Coquimbo.[241] In addition, the National Professional Football Association suspended the Apertura Tournament "Torneo Apertura 2010 (Chile)") indefinitely on the seventh date of this,[242]​ and several other matches due to the state of the venues. sports; The format of the national championship even had to be modified, holding a single annual tournament as opposed to the two semi-annual ones initially planned.[243] The Chilean delegation at the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Games paraded with a black crepe as a sign of mourning during the opening ceremony, being received with loud applause from the spectators.[244]​.

Various artists and athletes actively participated in relief efforts in areas damaged by the earthquake. Various charity concerts were held both in Chile and outside the country to raise food, the main events being held at the Movistar Arena in Santiago (during which the blackout occurred on March 14 and had to be suspended) and , which brought together one hundred thousand people in Buenos Aires and a total of 60 tons of donations.[245] Two songs were released by a group of artists to raise funds for through the sales of their respective singles, following the trend of songs such as ; artists such as Alejandro Sanz, Amaia Montero, Beto Cuevas, Juanes, Julieta Venegas, Laura Pausini, Michael Bublé, Miguel Bosé and La Oreja de Van Gogh participated in new versions of «Thanks to life "Thanks to life (song)")» and «Que cante la vida "Que cante la vida (2010 song)")», originals by Violeta Parra and Alberto Plaza, respectively. Additionally, several concerts in the country allocated part of their income in honor of the victims: Nelly Furtado's concert from the tour gave 5% of its profits and Ricardo Arjona's concert at the beginning of May allowed the reconstruction of a kindergarten in Dichato.[246][247]Placebo "Placebo (band)"), meanwhile, donated all of its profits. profits,[248]​ as did the group The Gathering "The Gathering (band)"), which held a special concert in Santiago requesting non-perishable food as part of the ticket.[249]​.

Government measures

On March 4, the then president Michelle Bachelet ordered that summer time throughout Chile be extended, for that year, until midnight on Saturday, April 3.[257] This change, formalized in the , was designed to facilitate the work of rescuers, the removal of debris, and in general to make better use of daylight in the afternoon. Normally, the change from summer time (UTC-3) to winter time (UTC-4) takes place at midnight on the second Saturday in March. The mayor of the Valparaíso Region Iván De La Maza ordered the suspension of the closing night of the LI Viña del Mar International Song Festival as a result of the national tragedy.

Errors in the alert system

The seismologist from the University of Hawaii, Vindell Hsu, who worked for the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, was the one who called the SHOA to give the tsunami warning on the coast of Chile. In a statement given to 3TV, he noted that the first thing that was done was to send an observation message which is an official message indicating that an earthquake has occurred and then a tsunami alert was sent to many countries in the Pacific Ocean, including Chile. Fifteen minutes after the earthquake occurred, the SHOA was called immediately to confirm if the tsunami warning had reached them. The person on duty who answered the phone did not speak English, and stated that they had received the alert, without understanding what had been asked, causing a misunderstanding that resulted in no coordination of the national warning systems, which reported that there would be no risk of a tsunami, as will be explained in the following lines.[258]​.

In her first public appearance after the earthquake, President Michelle Bachelet ruled out the possibility of a tsunami and called for the population to remain calm. These statements were made based on an error in the diagnosis of the situation by the Navy, more precisely the Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service of the Chilean Navy (SHOA). A few minutes after the earthquake, a large area of ​​coast was devastated by enormous waves that penetrated several hundred meters of land, destroying a large part of the structures in their path. The Chilean Navy has recognized its error in delivering ambiguous or erroneous information to the president,[259]​ however at the end of March 2010, the commander in chief of the institution, Edmundo González, in a statement given to the newspaper El Mercurio de Valparaíso pointed out that one hour before this telephone report to the president, ONEMI had already been notified by SHOA of the tsunami alert.[260]​ Two days after the catastrophe, the president Bachelet pointed out that the tsunami has caused more fatalities than the earthquake itself.[261]​.

Meanwhile in Talcahuano, one of the areas most affected by the tsunami, the former mayor Jaime Tohá and the former governor of the province of Concepción "Provincia de Concepción (Chile)"), Eric Aedo, contradicted the head of the Naval Zone, Rear Admiral Roberto Machivello, regarding who first provided the information where the tsunami alert was erroneously lifted.

According to what the civil authorities declared to Radio Bío-Bío, they held a face-to-face meeting during the early hours of February 27 with the Navy officer;[262]​ while Rear Admiral Machiavello maintains that he did not meet with Tohá and Aedo until late in the morning,[263]​ a version that was supported by the former mayor and then mayor of Concepción, Jacqueline Van Rysselberghe.[264]​.

Among the most notable facts in this series of errors, it stands out that nine hours after the seismic movement occurred, the tsunami warning was still not given in Chile, classifying this fact as "considerable variations in sea level",[265] being that the last wave recorded to reach the coast was at , in the town of Dichato.

In February 2013, a report from the Chilean Investigative Police (PDI) was released[266]

Therefore, the errors and the alleged culprits of said action will be judged by the Chilean Courts.

Las primeras estimaciones de la repercusión económica que tendría el terremoto en las arcas de la economía chilena fueron dadas a conocer un día después del suceso por el entonces presidente electo Sebastián Piñera que cifró en treinta mil millones de dólares el impacto derivado de las tareas de reconstrucción. El montante total se repartía entre los aproximadamente veinte mil millones que serían necesarios para la reconstrucción del medio millón de viviendas mayormente afectadas, otros cinco mil millones para la reconstrucción de hospitales y una cifra similar para la reconstrucción de carreteras, puentes y demás infraestructuras.[267]​ Esta cifra, que coincidía con el escenario más alto planteado por la empresa estadounidense Eqecat, especializada en evaluación de riesgos, equivalían al 15 por ciento del PIB anual del país austral.[268]​.

Damage to infrastructure

A week after the earthquake, the Minister of Public Works, Sergio Bitar, released the first assessment of the damage to structures that the country had suffered. According to the head of the MOP, a total of 1,200 infrastructure points throughout the country had been affected and required repair. The cost of these repairs was estimated at around $1.2 billion and the period in which they would be carried out over a period of three to four years. The infrastructure that was affected in the greatest number corresponded to the bridges, especially the 4,400 located in the south of the country, of which about 20 would have to be repaired and the same number completely rebuilt.[269]​.

Regarding the ports, Bitar announced that some of them had been seriously affected, including that of Talcahuano, 531 kilometers south of Santiago, where the Navy shipyard was severely damaged.[270]​ It had previously been announced that the most important ports in the country were affected, including Valparaíso, which caused the commercial flow of goods from Chile with other countries to be seriously affected.[271]​.

• - Annex:Chronology of relief efforts after the 2010 Chile earthquake.

• - Chillán earthquake of 1939.

• - Valdivia earthquake of 1960.

• - Santiago earthquake of 1985.

• - Tarapacá earthquake of 2005.

• - 2014 Iquique earthquake.

• - 2010 Ecuador earthquake.

• - 2010 Haiti earthquake.

• - 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami.

• - Seismic engineering.

• - 03:34, Chilean film inspired by the 2010 earthquake.

• - Aftershock "Aftershock (film)") Chilean-American film based on the 2010 earthquake.

• - Gallery of images of the earthquake.

• - Google help page.

• - Analysis of buildings affected by the earthquake.

• - Book of the Reconstruction of the Chilean Army.