Chaiten eruption in chile
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Introduction: Chaiten is a small town in Chile, on the west coast of South America. On May 7th 2008, the town witnessed a huge volcanic eruption. The eruption and resulting lahar flow flattened a large portion of the town. Even now, due to the fact that Chile is an LEDC, rebuilding efforts are slow and there is much controversey over what can be done to repair the town.
What caused the earthquake?: When the Nazca plate subducted under the South Amrican plate, part of the Nazca plate was pushed deep into the earths mantle where it was melted. This is a common occurence when a oceanic plate subducts under a continental plate due to the oveanic plate being heavier. Some of the magma then rose back up, and on May 7th this magma became lava, exploding from the volcano and creating a massive ash plume.
The Impacts: Due to eruption, the entire town of Chaiten had to be evacuated (social), and many flight routes had to be diverted due to the plume of ash created by the volcano (economic). Forests near the volcano were destroyed, along with a large amount of wildlife killed (environmental). As a positive however, the eruptions ash did make the soil fertile, and this will ultimately be helpful to the town in future years as they will be able to continue to fund rebuilding with proceeds from a farming industry this soil will undoubtedly create.
After the eruption lahars overwhelmed the town and detroyed a large amount of the infrastructure, creating a lot more damage- just as the tsunami did in the Japanese earthquake.
Although no deaths were reported as a direct result of the earthquake, 4000 people who were forced to evacuate as a result of the eruption have been left without homes.
Rebuilding as a LEDC: Being an LEDC, most of the damage to the town of Chaiten in Chile was to agricultural resources. An estimated 13000 cattle were killed and forest destroyed. However buildings in the town were also destroyed, and here is where most of the problems arised from. The chilean government could not decide if they wanted to rebuild the town and so for a year, no rebuilding efforts were even attempted. The eruption still continues slowly today, and there is doubt whether or not a rebuilding effort should even be attempted. On the flip side of this is the financial situation. Being an LEDC, Chile would most likely struggle to pay the bill and the country will most likely not attempt to rebuild the town.
What caused the earthquake?: When the Nazca plate subducted under the South Amrican plate, part of the Nazca plate was pushed deep into the earths mantle where it was melted. This is a common occurence when a oceanic plate subducts under a continental plate due to the oveanic plate being heavier. Some of the magma then rose back up, and on May 7th this magma became lava, exploding from the volcano and creating a massive ash plume.
The Impacts: Due to eruption, the entire town of Chaiten had to be evacuated (social), and many flight routes had to be diverted due to the plume of ash created by the volcano (economic). Forests near the volcano were destroyed, along with a large amount of wildlife killed (environmental). As a positive however, the eruptions ash did make the soil fertile, and this will ultimately be helpful to the town in future years as they will be able to continue to fund rebuilding with proceeds from a farming industry this soil will undoubtedly create.
After the eruption lahars overwhelmed the town and detroyed a large amount of the infrastructure, creating a lot more damage- just as the tsunami did in the Japanese earthquake.
Although no deaths were reported as a direct result of the earthquake, 4000 people who were forced to evacuate as a result of the eruption have been left without homes.
Rebuilding as a LEDC: Being an LEDC, most of the damage to the town of Chaiten in Chile was to agricultural resources. An estimated 13000 cattle were killed and forest destroyed. However buildings in the town were also destroyed, and here is where most of the problems arised from. The chilean government could not decide if they wanted to rebuild the town and so for a year, no rebuilding efforts were even attempted. The eruption still continues slowly today, and there is doubt whether or not a rebuilding effort should even be attempted. On the flip side of this is the financial situation. Being an LEDC, Chile would most likely struggle to pay the bill and the country will most likely not attempt to rebuild the town.