Pontificia Universidad Cató
Católica de Chile

International Cooperation onEarthquake Disaster Management
to Protect Lives
Raúl Alvarez Medel, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.

Chile, un paípaís con múmúltiples amenazas

Seismic /Earthquake

Volcanic
EruptionsCredits for Photos and Information: Faculty, Students, WW Web, Onemi, Other Universities, own.

UNESCO – IPRED5 Workshop
27 June 2012, Tokyo, Japan

Tidal waves /tsunamis

Structural and Geotechnical Engineering

Flood /
drought
Information by Onemi

Geographic Location

Geological Location

Information by Onemi

Information by Onemi

1Footprint historic earthquake in Chile

Footprint historic earthquake in Chile
Earthquake,
Earthquake, Santiago 1647

Earthquakes-

About 90 earthquakes
since 1570-

200 earthquakes perday(betweenperceptibleandimperceptible)-

Greatermagnitude
earthquake recordedin the world
Information by Onemi

Earthquake,
Earthquake, Valparaiso 1907

Footprint historic earthquake in Chile
Earthquake,Earthquake, Santiago 1985

Information by Onemi

Experiences of the last earthquake

Government and Institutions
 LackEarthquake,
Earthquake, Cauquenes 2010

Information by Onemi

ofcoordination
betweendifferent
Government
Departments,Onemi,
Shoa,Onemi,Shoa,Regional Governments, Municipalities.
 The institution that was closer to disastermanagement, was not up to the circumstances(Onemi).
Onemi). It was overtaken by events.
 Personnel in charge of management, did nothave enough technical competence, andautonomy,
andbudget
accordingtocircumstances.

2

Experiences of the last earthquake

Experiences of the last earthquake

Government and Institutions

Government and Institutions

 Overlay of political power over the technical. It

 The

was not clear chain of command, there wasobstruction of orders between technicians andpoliticians during the emergency.
wasnocommunication
between Theregovernment institutions and expeditious transport
to assess the situation.
 Dual power. Example OnemiOnemi-Shoa.
Shoa. Sometimes
pointed out different things. Different protocols.

Experiences of the last earthquake

buildings of some government institutions
were destroyed during the earthquake ortsunami, so there was no basis from which tocoordinate.
 Lack of unique methodology of evaluation ofstructures after the earthquake, so that theinterpretation of the data was very difficult.
 Local pressures were accepted to build in areas
unsuitable (poor soil, areas affected by tsunami,etc..). Lack of strong and consistent policy of theMunicipalities and the Government

Experiences of the last earthquake

Government and Institutions

Government and Institutions

 It depends on the willingness of other institutions

 Delayed reaction of political power to establish

like the U of Chile, but have other purposes.
of a crisis management plan Absence
internalized in the population, where tsunamis betaught drills, earthquake drills, where to evacuate,
have places to take in people injured, define
where welcome, hopefully with insulation systems
or energy dissipation that were operational after
the earthquake.

strict protection measures for civility againstlooting and vandalism.
 None of the tsunami early warning.
 Serious problems in mobile communication
during the crisis.
 Concentration of knowledge in the capital.
 Great extension of the country and affectedareas.

3

Experiences of the last earthquake

Experiences of the last earthquake

Of Civility

Equipment Lack of volunteers to assess the damage after an Lackearthquake Using materials not suitable even for a seismic
country like adobe.
 Auto building without control.
 Lack of coordination and management of civility
to the crisis in some areas.
 Acceptance of economic structural solutions from
nonnon-seismic countries, very easily.

Implement Improvements
Government and Institutions
restructure the ONEMI, giving
 Completely
emphasis in management. Change its organiclaw. Major institutional change.
 Provide it with sufficient budget.
 Empower them against the conjunctural politicalpower.
 Professionalize their members and provide themwith professional training in seismology,volcanology,volcanology, tsunami experts, engineers, seismic,etc.
 Develop a strong research area in all subjects
listed above.

of proper equipment, in order to have amonitoring of the country (accelerographs(accelerographs,,seismographs, equipment at sea), considering
the vast extension of the country.
 Lack of maintenance of existing instruments, forlack of funds and lack of qualified personnel,
especially outside of Santiago.
 Data from the few devices that work are notaccesibles the scientific community, so you havethe information months or years of delay.

Implement ImprovementsGovernment and Institutions
 Create an early warning network nationwide, withsufficient resources to operate and maintain, withappropriate staff in evaluating the information
obtained.
 Knowledge permeate the province.
 Share this information with local and international
scientific community.
the continuous operation of the Ensuringcommunication network at the country level,citizen.

4Implement Improvements

Tips to Japan and UNESCO

Government and Institutions
 Implement a quick inspection of structures andcreate and coordinate a volunteer at the country
level for implementing disaster.
 It seems obvious, but provide the necessarybudget to function and operate as indicated in thecourse of time.
 In schools the curriculum incorporate the issuesof natural disasters.
 Crisis management education to the population.

 Share positive experiences in institutional issues,

management and monitoring of successful
countries.
 Exchange of technical personnel and experts inrisk management, methodologies, studies ofhuman behavior in emergencies, etc.
 Help create a critical mass of experts in eacharea of risk, to permeate this knowledge
throughout the country.

End of Presentation

Thanks5