Chile Earthquake 2/27/2010: Stories & Lessons

An 8.8 mega-earthquake hit the coast of Chile on February 27th, 2010 and is recorded as one of the largest earthquakes to date. Despite the magnitude of the earthquake, Chile suffered relatively little casualty rates and property damages. To analyze the impact of the earthquake even further, stock trends, bond market fluctuation, government credit ratings and personal anecdotes were factored and compared against other similar mega-earthquake incidents, notably one in Japan on March 11th, 2011 and another in New Zealand on February 22nd, 2011. While Japan and New Zealand both slipped in their government ratings and stock markets following the earthquakes, Chile’s market – both the stock market and the government ratings – have actually increased following the mega-earthquake. Reconstruction spending, low fatality rate, and notably, the country’s deep understanding of earthquake response procedures attributed to the nation’s financial resiliency and quick recovery. Several interviews with government officials, NGO leaders and government officials were conducted to reveal unique leadership characteristics and management techniques applied during the mega-earthquake in order to provide insight beyond numbers.