On February 27

On February 27, 2010, Midwest Chile experienced an earthquake having a magnitude of 8.8 on the moment magnitude scale and lasted around three minutes. The areas affected were in six regions which make up of almost 80% of the country’s population. The cities that felt the strongest shakings were lX on the MMS. The earthquake was felt as far north as the city of Ica in Peru. The epicentre was located around 200 miles southwest of the capital Santiago, and the focus occurred at a depth of about 22 miles below the surface of the Pacific Ocean.
The earthquake took place along the boundary between the Nazca and South American tectonic plates which converge at 3 centimeters in a year.
Because the two tectonic plates were converging on one another, this brought stress. The stress then caused the rocks to shatter along and between the plate boundary. This forced pressure upward and formed a tsunami. The tsunami washed over several of coastal towns in central south Chile. In some coastal cities, waves measured up to 50 feet high. There were 150 casualties due to the tsunami in Chile. Fifty-three countries were issued a tsunami warning including california, which had minor wave damage. Many fishing companies had damage which was estimated at over 66 million dollars. Not only the coastal areas had damage, but also the inland areas. Most of the country suffered from a blackout which affected 93% of the people which went out for several of day and some areas, weeks. The president of Chile didn’t declare a “State of Emergency,” but instead declared a “State of Catastrophe” because of all the damages and lives that were lost.
There were many damages caused including homes destroyed and lives lost. Official sources claim that 525 people had lost their lives and 25 went missing. 9% of the population lost their home and most had structural damages. Government officials also noted that an estimated two million people had been directly affected by the quake.
The Chilean army dispatched more than 10,000 troops to the devastated areas around the epicentre to direct recovery operations and keep the peace the day after the quake. Supplies from all over the world including the U.S., The European Union, and many Asian countries. Power was disposed to the entire country after two weeks. In July 2013 the government reported that some 74 percent of the 222,000 home-rebuilding projects it had subsidized were complete. The rest of the projects were largely complete by the middle of 2014. To help support families for home/property damages, the Chilean government was ordered to pay the families of tsunami victims some 2.8 billion pesos which is equivalent to $2.7 million U.S. dollars.