Latest news on Chile after the earthquake
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Send to friendEarthquake in Chile: Extent and Economic Impact
INTENSE WORK FOR RESTORING TRADE FLOWS AND INTERNATIONAL PRESCENCE
** Despite the unfortunate loss of lives and damages to housing and public and productive infrastructure left by the strong earthquake on February 27th, Chilean trade flows with the world are expected to recover in the short term. The country is also willing to maintain its competitiveness gained during recent years in international markets.
** Chile will carry on responding to its previous commitments of wine shipments and main ports are already operative. Fruit sector producers and workers are putting their best efforts to normalize the harvesting without stopping fruit shipments.
** The country's connectivity in terms of roads, ports, airports and telecommunications has been restored and the reconstruction phase is already underway.
Background
On Saturday, February 27, a region of Chile of about 621 miles in length was hit by a major earthquake and tsunami. Especially hard-hit were the Maule and Biobío regions. Population in the affected area -which extends from Valparaíso to Araucanía- stands at 13 million, nearly 80 percent of the total of the population of Chile.
These regions include the cities of Santiago, Concepción and Valparaíso, which are Chile's most populous and home to most of the industrial, services and agricultural activities. Together they account for nearly 70 percent of GDP, including Valparaíso with 7.9; Metro Santiago with 42.9; O'Higgins and Maule with 3.5 each and Araucanía with 2.4 percent. Maule and Biobío alone account for 76 percent of the Chilean agricultural output.
Economic stability will help the reconstruction process
While the exact extent of the losses has yet to be determined, catastrophe risk modeling firms Eqecat and AIR Worldwide have hazarded preliminary estimates ranging from $15 to $30 billion dollars.
