海地地震和智利地震相隔時間不長，于是很自然人們就會把兩場地震拿來作比較。海地是中美洲最貧困的國家，而智利則是南美洲最富有的國家之一，這是現(xiàn)實。但是究竟為什么海地地震的震級小于智利地震，而損失卻遠遠高于智利呢？

The quake in Haiti was a 7.0, killing more than 200,000 people. The quake in Chile registered 8.8, as much as 800 times stronger. The death toll less than a thousand so far.

Why is that? Geography, for one thing. The Port-au-Prince quake was in shallow earth, 15 miles from the city. The Chile quake was 30 miles off the coast, deep under water.

History is another factor. No one alive remembers the series of earthquakes that hit Haiti in the 1700s. But Chile's experience is much more recent; more than 28 quakes in the 20th century, including the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in 1960. All of which has led Chile to put in and adhere to strict building codes.

Chile learned its lessons the hard way, making engineering the biggest factor of all that sets Chile and Haiti apart.

Despite the loss of life, this has to be regarded as a success story. The -- you have got to remember that 500,000 buildings are damaged, probably half of those irreparably. But we're looking at a kind of earthquake resistance that enables people to walk out of these damaged structures.

In precisely the same way that Chile's building codes were a success, Haiti was a dismal and deadly failure. In Port-au- Prince, we surveyed the wreckage with structural engineer Kit Miyamoto, who specializes in earthquakes.

You see the column. You see top of column. You see some rebar kind of sticking out through it?

Yes.

Doesn't have enough group, just does not have enough rebar. That's why it just collapsed like that. It's really brittle.

Chile is one of the wealthiest and most transparent countries in South America. Haiti is the poorest and among the most corrupt in the Western Hemisphere. So, how does Haiti get the money and enforcement power to change the rules and build safe buildings?

We know that this area is one of the highest-risk area in the whole world, a really dangerous area, and, still, the new construction do not have the use of the latest technology.

This is cost, we're talking about $20 billion, right, and, also 200,000 death. You can prepare for probably thousands of the cost and no death.

Who messed it up so bad in Haiti?

We did, engineers.

By not doing the right things?

I did not -- I did not speak out loud enough. It's our responsibility. I have no doubt in my mind that we need to take responsibility. This is my screw-up. This -- this should not be happening again and again. This should not be -- this story needs to be told.

After so many deaths, engineering a safer future is a heavy burden.

Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.?

生詞匯總：

irreparably：Irreparable damage or harm is so bad that it cannot be repaired or put right. 不能挽回地

rebar：鋼筋

brittle：hard but easily broken 硬但易碎的；脆性的

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