A Tale of Two Earthquakes > 영어토론방

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The earthquake that rocked Chile was 500 times more powerful than the temblor that shattered the Haitian capital of Port-Au-Prince, yet the death toll in Chile stood at 723 as of Monday. In Haiti, the death toll is believed to be around 220,000.

Part of the disparity is simple luck. The epicenter of the Chilean quake was deeper ― 22 miles compared to eight for Haiti ― and farther from the major cities. But much of the difference is due to planning and preparation.

Of the 10 largest earthquakes on record, two of them struck Chile, including one in 1960 with a magnitude of 9.5, the most powerful on record.

Chile is in a seismically active zone and, as one observer there reported, people in Chile think about earthquakes all the time. The last big earthquake in Haiti proper was in 1842.

Knowing that more earthquakes are inevitable, Chile has stringent building codes that are strictly enforced.

The government's preparations were such that its president said the country was not in immediate need of national assistance. And it helps that Chile is prosperous enough to afford these precautions and has a government effective enough to carry them out.

Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, and like many poor countries its building codes are either nonexistent or laxly enforced. Government buildings collapsed and the president was forced to conduct affairs from a police station on the outskirts of the capital.

Haiti's government is legendarily dysfunctional and the rescue and relief operations were quickly taken over by the U.S. military and international aid organizations.

There is a saying that earthquakes don't kill people, it's the buildings that fall on them. The value of Chile's preparations is evident in the relatively small number of deaths, considering the size and scope of the earthquake, compared to the large number of people dispossessed, over 2 million.

Chile will rebuild, incorporating the lessons of this temblor, and Haiti will try within its limited resources, but basically that poor country will hope that it can go another century and a half or so without getting hit.

Excerpt from The Korea Times
Source: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2010/03/137_61661.html

Question

1. Have you ever seen the news about earthquakes that recently broke out in several countries of the world?
   Describe the news and your thoughts about it.
2. Why do you think earthquakes are occurring continuously in these days?
   Talk about your thinking.
3. What can be a biggest problem when earthquakes happen in our country?
   And what can be a solution to that problem?

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