Earthquake in Chile is Stronger, Less Devastating than Haiti

So far, 2010 has seen three major earthquakes. There was the devastating 7.0 quake in Haiti, followed by two this weekend, a 7.0 in the Ryukyu islands in Japan, which caused little damage, and the more destructive 8.8 earthquake in Chile.

Although this may seem like an unusual amount of earthquakes, scientists say that the events are within the realm of normal, as the planet experiences an average of 17 quakes per year scoring 7.0 or higher on the Richter scale; we just don’t notice all of them, experts say, because many occur in unpopulated areas. Both the earthquake in Chile and the quake in Japan were caused by sliding tectonic plates along the “ring of fire,” a volatile area in the Pacific Ocean responsible for 95 percent of all earthquakes.

The earthquake in Chile was about 500 times stronger than that of Haiti, but Chile’s was far less devastating, as the nation began enforcing strict building codes following a 9.5 earthquake in 1960 — the strongest on record anywhere in the world — and a 7.8 quake in 1985.

After this weekend’s quake, experts worried that Pacific regions such as Hawaii and Japan might endure massive tsunamis, as was the case in 1960. This time, however, both Hawaii and Japan were spared, although Chile quake 2010 tsuanmi damage did occur in some of the nation’s coastal areas, include the town of Pellehue.

Image via The Boston Globe