Chile
From HFA-PEDIA
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A massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck near the coast of south-central Chile early on Feb. 27, 2010, triggering huge tsunamis. It shook buildings and caused blackouts in parts of the capital Santiago, 335 km (210 miles) away. Giant waves set off by the quake crashed into coastal villages near the epicentre, killing scores of people and demolishing houses. Television images showed houses washed away by swirling waters, cars tossed into shattered buildings and boats lifted into the streets in coastal towns including Pelluhue and Constitucion. Several hundred people died and 370,000 homes were damaged or destroyed. The quake also mangled highways, downed bridges and dealt a heavy blow to infrastructure. Looting and violence broke out in Concepcion, Chile's second-largest city, soon after the quake, and it took thousands of troops and police several days to restore order in the streets. Strong aftershocks were felt for several weeks after the initial tremor.
The quake exposed serious flaws in the country's emergency response systems and a lack of coordination between various government agencies. The government had told Chileans immediately after the quake there was no danger of a tsunami, an error it said was based on incorrect data from navy experts.
Rescue efforts in the first few days were slow, partly because of damaged infrastructure, but also because officials misjudged the extent of the damage, initially declining offers for international aid. The head of Chile's emergency management agency resigned amid criticism the agency was slow to respond.
The government plans to spend more than $2.5 billion over the next two years to rebuild 300,000 houses, as well as hospitals, schools and roads. However it says repairing all the damage will take three to four years.
Chile's death toll was a fraction of that caused by the January 2010 quake in Haiti, which killed more than 200,000 people, despite the Chilean tremor being 500 times stronger. Experts give several reasons for this difference. Chileans had been educated on what to do in an earthquake, and evacuated buildings at the first sign of a big tremor. Chile's strict building codes, enforced after a quake killed 5,000 people in 1960, also helped. However, questions were raised about whether building codes had been strictly adopted. And lastly, Chile's quake was much deeper than Haiti's and occurred offshore. The Haitian quake's epicentre was right on the edge of the capital Port-au-Prince, which was devastated as a result.
Source: AlertNet - http://alertnet.org/db/crisisprofiles/CL_QUAKE.htm
HFA National Reports
Preliminary national HFA progress report 2009-2011 (2010): Preliminary report submitted
National HFA progress report 2007-2009 (2008): Unreported
National Report 2007: National Report on the Implementation of the HFA (2007) - Chile (Spanish)
National Report 2006: Unreported
National Report 2005: Unreported
National Report 2004: Unreported
National platform:
In process of being reactivated, first established in 2002.
HFA National Focal Point:
Oficina Nacional de Emergencia (ONEMI)
Address: Ministerio del Interior, Beaucheff 1637/ 1671, Santiago
Phone: (+56-2) 252-4200/6966903/671-8333 / Fax:(+56-2)672-1899
E-mail: online@onemi.cl
Contact person: Vicente Nuñez, National Director (2010)
Tel: (562) 252-4231
E-mail:
Alternative / technical contact person: Lorna Vergara, secretary to Mr. Nuñez
Tel: (+56-2) 252-4231
E-mail: lvergara@onemi.gov.cl
Other contacts
Permanent Mission of Chile to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva
Chief:
His Excellency Mr. Carlos Portales
Ambassador
Permanent Representative
Address: Rue de Moillebeau 58 (4th Floor), 1211 Geneva 19
Tel: +(41-22) 919-8800, Fax: +(41-22) 734-5297
E-mail: misionchile@misginchile.org
URL: http://www.misginchile.org
UN System Coordination
Resident Coordinator Office
Mr. Enrique Ganuza
UN Resident Coordinator, Resident Representative UNDP
Address: Dag Hammarskjold 3241, Casilla 19006, Vitacura, Santiago
Tel: 00(562) 654-1002 / 1000; Fax: 00(562) 654-1099 /1082
E-mail: enrique.ganuza@undp.org, registry.cl@undp.org
URL: http://www.pnud.cl
Inter-Agency Support
Mr. Alejandro Mañón
E-mail: alejandro.manon@undp.org
URL: UBDG - Oficina del Coordinador Residente: Chile
UN Country Team (UNCT)
Mr. Enrique Ganuza, Resident Coordinator UNDP System
Mr José Luis Machinea, Executive Secretary, ECLAC
Ms Margarita Flores, Representative for Chile, Deputy Regional Representative, FAO
Mr Guillermo Miranda, Director MDT, ILO
Ms Marietta Uribe, Assistant ITU
Mr Juan Manuel Sotelo, Representative, PAHO/WHO
Ms Rosa Blanco, Dir. Reg. Office for Education, UNESCO
Mr Egidio Crotti, Representative/Resident Coordinator a.i., UNICEF
Ms Margarita Uprimny, Human Rights Officer, UNHCHR
Ms Gabriela Rodriguez, Chief of Mision, IOM
Mr Esteban Caballero, Representative Peru and Country Director for Chile and Uruguay, UNFPA
Ms Ana Falu, Regional Director, UNIFEM
Mr Favio Varoli, Liaison Officer, UNHCR
Ms Annabella Arredondo, Liaison Officer, UNAIDS
Mr Benigno Rodriguez, Deputy Resident Representative, UNDP
Ms Mariela Cortes, Liaison Officer, UNFPA
Ms Tatiana Perez, Liaison Officer, UNIFEM
Mr. Alejandro Mañón, Coordination Support, UNDP System
Updated: 13.6.2008; UNDG: Chile
PAHO/WHO Field Offices, Chile: Dr. Juan Manuel Sotelo Figueiredo, PAHO/WHO Representative
Address: Oficina Sanitaria Panamericana, Avenida Providencia No. 1017, Piso 4 y 5, Santiago, Chile / Casilla 9459, Santiago, Chile
Phone: (+56-2) 264-9300 / Fax: (+56-2) 264-9311
E-mail: e-mail@chi.ops-oms.org
Website: [www.chi.ops-oms.org www.chi.ops-oms.org]
Chilean Red Cross:
Address: Av.Santa María 0150, Providencia - Santiago
Phone:(+56-2) 7771448/7771216 / Fax (+56-2) 7370270
E-mail:comunicaciones@cruzroja.cl
Website: http://www.cruzroja.cl/
UNDP Chile
Website: UNDP Chile
Country Profile
Official name: Republic of Chile
Capital: Santiago
Population: 16,284,741 (July 2007 est.)
Density: 21 inhab/sq Km
Total area: 756,950 sq Km
Languages: Spanish
Government: Republic
Religion: United Church (Presbyterian and Congregational), Anglican, Baptist, Church of God, other Protestant, Roman Catholic
Ethnic Groups: white and white-Amerindian 95%, Amerindian 3%, other 2%
Currency: Chilean peso
The territory of Chile is located on the west coast of South America, holds a length of 4270 km. And an average width of 200 km. The important territorial extension determines a wide variety of climates, soils and biomes. In order prevails from north to south a sequence of desert ecosystems, estepáricos, Mediterranean, warm temperate, temperate rain, cold and estepáricos tundra. The physiographic features distinguish an abrupt altitudinal gradient from west to east: coastal plain, Coast Mountains, depression and Andean Mountains. For the physiographic configuration of the territory, constrained between the Andean and the coast, with slopes exceeding 5 thousand meters in no more than 200 km. This country has-from the mainland to the sea - watershed high torrent High frailty in the regulation of water flows, high capacity and erosive sediment transport, particularly in desertified areas, denuded and vast areas of mountains.
Chile is therefore a country where 80% of its territory is made up of hilly terrain and the remaining 20% corresponds to valleys and coastal plains, covered by mountains, seas, lakes, rivers or canals, smashing its geography in southern countless islands. The processes of erosion and desertification, which affects half the national territory are associated with mountain ecosystems; help in times of severe damage from summer drought and winter seasons are produced severe flooding, with devastating effects on infrastructure and urban population, which affect precious human lives.
The Chilean coast have been beaten twice by tsunamis (registered here as tsunamis), originated thousands of miles away, ie no relation to a local earthquake. All records on volcanic eruptions in Chile show a more or less similar, which reflected the occurrence of certain events visionary such as seismicity surface local noise underground, fumarólica increased activity, emission of gas (sulphur) and increasing the temperature in the area of the crater, this implies the emergence of thawing to increase river flow (in snow-covered volcanoes). Such events can be given both at volcanoes that have been inactive as those with ongoing activity. This may take several days, weeks or even years until a series of earthquakes and underground noises prior to the departure of ash and lava, which runs at a speed of between 5 and 100 km. / H-depending on the geographic gap - and usually follows the creeks of the area, ending in channels of rivers or lakes.
Chile is the country which has one of the highest rates of seismic activity and where there have been major earthquakes on the planet. The seismicity of Chile occurs throughout its territory, with greater frequency and intensity between Arica and the Peninsula Taitao and also in the far south of Magellan.
Urban indicators
Statistical Overview
- Urbanisation:
- Total Population: 15 million
- Urban population: 86%
- Slum to urban population: 9%
- Annual population growth rates:
- Urban: 2%
- Slum: 9%
- Annual population growth rates:
- Slum Indicators - % urban population with access to
- Safe water source: 99%
- Improved sanitation: 92%
- Sufficient living area: N/A
- Durable housing: N/A
(Based on UN-Habitat 2001 estimates)
| Indicator | 2030 |
| Total population (thousands) | 19,777.6 |
| Population in urban (thousands) | 18,245.4 |
| Population in slums (thousands) | N/A |
| Population in urban areas (% of total population) | 92.3 |
| Population in slums (% of urban population) | N/A |
| Annual urban population growth rate (%) | N/A |
| Annual slum population growth rate (%) | N/A |
| Population with access to improved sanitation (% of urban population) | N/A |
| Population with access to improved water (% of urban population) | N/A |
| Population with sufficient living area (% of urban population) | N/A |
| Population with durable structures (% of urban population) | N/A |
| Population in rural (thousands) | 1,532.2 |
- Source: UN-Habitat - The data presented here is extracted from UN-HABITAT's Global Urban Indicators database.
- The data is drawn from different sources and based on 2030 estimates.
Institutional Level
With the creation of the National Emergency Office of the Interior Ministry (ONEMI), and centralized national agency, is developing in the country a National Civil Protection System, which is an expression municipal, provincial and regional levels. It is directed and coordinated, according to the laws in force - by municipalities, governorates, management and the Ministry of the Interior, where all jurisdictional areas maintain their identity and structure.
ONEMI supported its management in a National Committee for Civil Protection and Emergency comprising more than 40 public, private and voluntary. At the national level, each level of government in the country have formed committees communal, provincial and regional Civil Protection (Law 16282 and Supreme Decree No. 156 of the Internal March 12, 2002, which establishes the National Plan for Civil Protection). Inside them are discussed concrete ways of action, plans are designed and prioritize activities for the prevention, mitigation and preparedness appropriate to the particular realities of each jurisdictional area (Principle Mutual Aid).
In emergency or disaster, it is the Emergency Operations Committee, which is composed of representatives of the same Committee for Civil Protection and Emergency, but with specific skills and capabilities related to the respective event of emergency.
This Operations Committee exercises its mission in an Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), which coordinates the decisions and actions of response and rehabilitation.
In emergency situations are used in the first instance all available resources in the affected community. If the magnitude of the event exceeds local capacity, mobilize additional support necessary stages successively from the provincial level, regional to the national (Principle Use Escalonado Resources). ONEMI also has a Center of Early Warning (CAT), which has as its fundamental mission permanently and systematically monitor the various risk scenarios anywhere in the country or abroad, to collect, evaluate and disseminate as soon as possible, available information on potential or actual occurrence of a destructive event, be described as the social impact of emergency or disaster.
Source: UN/ISDR The Americas
Climate change
Progress
(2007): (Source: Matrix Final - based on national progress report for the Global Platform)
HFA P1 - Institutional and legal framework
New bill on “Civil protection law” to move towards a more articulated national civil protection system
Special institution for strengthening and capacity building within units working DRR
HFA P2 - Risk identification and EWS:
Program of early warning centre (supported by the Inter-American Development Bank - IDB). Main objective is to support the Chilean government in implementing early warning centers through the application of a pilot project in Santiago’s metropolitan area, while replicating this pilot project in the other 12 regions of the country.
HFA P3 - Knowledge and education:
Collaboration agreement between the metropolitan University of sciences of education (UMCE), and ONEMI
HFA P4 - Risk applications:
HFA P5 - Preparedness and response:
Creation of specialized task force units to support the work of municipalities and provinces on disaster preparedness and emergency operations, with a focus on enforcement of early warning protocols, emergency controls and rehabilitation of affected areas
Others Documents:
National Management Model of Civil Protection, Chile. ONEMI, February, 2008. (Spanish)
Web Links
PreventionWeb Country Profile-Natural Disaster Chile Data and Statistcs
Chile Coordination Profile; United Nations Development Group (includes Common Country Assessment - CCA, United Nations Development Assistance Framework - UNDAF, MDG Reports, UN Country Team, Resident Coordinator's Office and more)
EM-DAT Chile Country Profile-Natural Disaster
ReliefWeb Countries & Emergencies Chile
Official Website Chilean Government
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Chile
MDG Profile: Chile
