Tsunamis, amenaza, vulnerabilidad y riesgo en el borde costero de Chile central.

Abstract

Tectonic characteristics of the Chilean continental margin and its intense and constant seismic activity, explain a rich history of catastrophic events like earthquakes and tsunamis. The most recent catastrophic event occurred last February 27, 2010, earthquake and subsequent tsunami. However, in spite of this long history there is no organized response in Chile through the generation of public policies that address an integrated management of disaster risk, mainly because a unifactorial approach that focuses on the threats predominates.

This study investigates, from the knowledge of the tsunami threat, the levels of vulnerability of the inhabitants of the potentially floodable zones in the coastal communities of the south-central region of Chile. In this context, various types of vulnerabilities are analyzed in the coastal locality of Quidico (Province of Arauco, Biobío Region), in order to provide a vision of the disaster from the global vulnerability, that is, the effect of the occurrence of a natural phenomenon in people and their response to it.

The results indicate that there are high levels of socioeconomic vulnerability, coupled with high levels of educational, organizational and political vulnerability. This translates into a global vulnerability that prevails in 80% of the areas analyzed, and which allows us to conclude that the formation of a coast of fast access to areas of height and a level of non-formal knowledge of the Community, but better ancestral, was a determining factor in the loss of human lives.