A Earthquake hit Aysen, Southern Chile in the Chilean Patagonia on May 7th measuring 6.2 magnitude. That was more or less the headline that played on the major international news sources around the World. Which is true. It is the rest of the story about the quake that got dropped, spun, or ignored by the international media. We would like to take a closer look at the story to explain better what really happened in Aysen.

The major issue we want to look at here is about the quake itself, and the reporting related to the basic assertion by the international media that not a lot was done by the Chilean federal government. More importantly that not a lot was done by the president of Chile Michel Bachelet.

First, let us say that we general give the Chilean president Michel Bachelet mixed reviews when it comes to her performance, and especially when it comes to Southern Chile. However, this is one time where the fact simply do not fit the criticism leveled at her and picked up by the international media.




A short history of Bachelet and natural disasters

One of the reason Bachelet was elected in a such a landslide was because of her history of handling national disasters as head of the Military. Bachelet herself was tortured by the dictator Pinochet. Her father who was one of Pinochet's generals was later also murdered by the military. Bachelet later became the head of the military and holds a degree in Military studies.

After democracy was reestablished, the Chilean military understandably stood back from involvement in civilian matters because of the lack of public trust. It was Bachelet, as secretary of defense, during a particularly bad flood in Santiago that personally jumped on a tank and led the military back in to the streets once again to rescue people trapped in their cars and houses. Ever since her time as head of the military, it has been one of their standing orders to support the civilian rescue workers in times of crisis.

First fact missed by the international media: It was a surprise.

This was not really a "surprise" earthquake, as so frequently happens around the World. There were alerts issued by the government over six months before. The earthquake was a result of seismic activity resulting from an undersea volcano off the Chilean coast that has been monitored for years. There have been hundreds of small quakes in the region this year, and a large one was more than expected by all. In fact, Chile is one of the more wired countries in the world for Tsunami and earthquakes.

Fact Two missed by the international Media: number of people effected.

The population of Aysen and the surrounding area is one of the least populated areas of all the 13 regions in Chile, with about 100,000 people in total. This is not New Orleans or Guatemala, where tens of thousands of people were effected, then abandoned by the government. The area effected was near Puerto Aysen, but was really focused around the small town of Puerto Chacabuco with a population of about 2,000 people.

Fact Three missed or downplayed by the international Media: There was little help.

This is a quote of quote from Rueters news agency:

"The Army has contributed a helicopter to efforts to find these (missing people)," the Chilean government said in a statement.

The Chilean federal government issued warnings and assigned civilian and military personnel to the area. Over a dozen Chilean military aircraft where in the area within hours of the quake searching for people. Civilian rescue workers were also on the seen. Many had been stationed there for months waiting for this disaster, and many more were already permanently stationed in the area. Chile, overall has excellent disaster response plans. Here is the Chilean government emergency management web site: http://www.onemi.cl/

What the international media picked up on was that Michel Bachelet faced a lot of criticism for not doing anything to help. This however is about where the international media stopped following the details of the story because of the lack of death and destruction.


Also from Reuters:

"Michelle Bachelet traveled to the south on Sunday..."

In fact, Bachelete was on the ground by that afternoon walking around. As is the media tradition in Chile, she was also on the street face to face with her critics with only a wall of media microphones and cameras between her and a crowd of very angry local citizens (we don't recommend that other presidents try this at home). The fact that she was there the same day is a small miracle, considering the shear distance between Santiago and Aysen.

So, live on TV in front of the entire country, the morning of the quake, surrounded by a crowds of angry citizens demanding to know why she had not done more to protect the people from the quake, Bachelet had a good answer ready.

Fact Five missed by the international media: the quake directly killed people.

Most people that died, died because they where on boats or on salmon fishing rafts at the time of the quake; not standing on the shoreline. This is where Bachelet's good answer comes in.

The federal government had six months before ordered all salmon workers off the salmon farming rafts that are common to the ocean bays around that part of southern Chile. With a great deal of certainty, they knew there was a potential for a quake originating on the ocean sea floor and causing deadly waves. However, the local government officials chose to ignore that order in favor of protecting the local Salmon industry over the lives of the workers. An investigation is underway.

A real break for Southern Chile

The thing that no one but God can take credit for in this disaster is that the quake occurred on a Saturday when only a few dozen workers and boats where out at sea. Had the quake hit during the middle of the week, hundreds of workers would have been out tending to the salmon rafts or fishing.

So, in that respect, we have to say Bachelet, the local officials, and southern Chile dodged a major natural disaster bullet, perhaps compounded by human greed. Only then, would the international media have had something worthy of CNN and a proper comparisons to New Orleans, Guatemalan, or the Asian disasters.

We do not wish to downplay the tragedy involved. Our heart goes out to those that lost their life in Southern Chile, after all this is our home; however, we also offer our pat on the back to Bachelet for standing up and facing the disaster, facing the critics, and taking care of the business as a leader should.