When a major earthquake struck Haiti in 2010, and then a stronger earthquake struck Chile less than one month later, how did loss of life compare? What accounts for this difference? Use the term “manufactured risks” in your answer?

Question

Please provide the best answer for the statement.

Answer 1

1. The earthquake that struck Chile, though significantly stronger, resulted in far less loss of life.
2. Part of the reason for Haiti’s greater loss was because the earthquake there was closer to a populous city, but Chile is also a wealthier society with a history of earthquakes, while Haiti is a poor society that had virtually no disaster relief services available.
3. As a society, Chile was more prepared for such an event in the first place because more of Chile’s infrastructure was built to withstand and protect people from such an event.
4. Haiti had none of this social and architectural infrastructure in place and is still recovering from this disaster. For similar reasons, poorer areas within a single society are more devastated during natural disasters—like New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
5. Manufactured risks describes those risks that arise through the process of modernization. Endemic poverty in Haiti and social inequality in general can be seen as manufactured risks.