A tremor with a magnitude of 8.8 devastated large parts of southern Chile on February 27. The President, Michelle Bachelet declared a ‘State of catastrophe’ as the quake destroyed the city of Concepción.
Parts of Chile have been left in ruin; pictures show buildings completely collapsed and major highways that have trembled into small pieces.
After the earthquake shook Chile, the Tsunami Warning Centre, located in Hawaii issued an tsunami alert for countries all over the Pacific Ocean.
According to the New York Times, the death toll was under 100, now it is up to an estimated 708 and still rising. The quake had 500 times more energy than the catastrophic earthquake that hit Haiti about six weeks ago but, the amount of deaths is a great deal lower than the 200,000 killed in the Haitian disaster.
The damage and death toll in Chile are likely far less extensive, because of strict building codes put in place after devastating earthquakes that have occurred in the past.
2,000 police and military workers have been sent to not only assist on recovery efforts but also to restore order in what has become an extremely chaotic disaster area.
