Chile Earthquake Research Paper

May 22nd, 1960 in the afternoon at 7:11, people in Chile would lose their lives, because of a 9.5 magnitude earthquake. This catastrophe occurs when the Nazca plate released tension and descended 15 meters under the South American plate. Since the earthquake occurred in the middle of the Pacific Ocean it resulted with horrible tsunamis hitting the coast of Chile, Hawaii and Japan. This earthquake was enough to leave people homeless and dead. The destruction cost millions of dollars. Lastly, the seismic motion from the shaking of the earth caused huge landslides across Chile. One effect this earthquake had on, was people. First, 2 million people were left homeless, their homes were destroyed by the earthquake and tsunami so they had nowhere to stay. Then people met the grave, they either died of drowning or being buried in rubble from the buildings that collapsed. Evidence is, “On this day in 1960, the first tremor of a series hits Valdivia, Chile. By the time they end, the quakes and their aftereffects kill 5,000 people and leave another 2 million homeless. Registering a magnitude of 7.6, the first earthquake was powerful and killed several people.” (History.com, Huge earthquake hit Chile) This proves that many people had died, and millions had been left homeless because of this disastrous earthquake. …show more content…
The earthquake hit and all the destruction cost 550 million dollars and the donations to help the people that had cost 136.4 million dollars. Evidence is, “The exact cost of the disaster remains unknown, but is estimated at approximately $550 million in losses. In repairing the damage, the Chilean state invested 136.4 million U.S. dollars from abroad in the form of donations and 292.6 million from the government.” (Earthquakes and Volcanoes, 1960 Valdivia Earthquake, Chile) This evidence supports my statement because it tells you how the earthquake impacted the economy by making them pay for the