# Earthquake in Chile and Looting **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 1, 2010, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-chile-and-looting/530874 "2010-03-01T16:22:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dr.Righteous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Dr.Righteous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Righteous)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-chile-and-looting/530874/1 "2010-03-01T16:22:25Z")
I tried searching for a thread on this, so if I’ve created a duplicate I apologize. While the earthquake that just happened in Chile was much stronger than the one that happened in Haiti, the damage appears to be less (due to the stronger structures in Chile). Chile is also a richer country - its citizens have, on average, a higher standard of living. So why has looting occurred in Chile where it did not in Haiti? From all reports whatever looting happened in Haiti didn’t start until days had gone by, and for the most part was limited to people trying to get food and water and other supplies. In Chile it appears some people are taking advantage of the situation and looting not for life sustaining items, but for DVD players and the like. What are people’s theories on why these two similar situations have different results? I for one have no idea what to think about it. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-chile-and-looting/530874/2 "2010-03-01T16:28:44Z")
It’s **because** Chile is a richer country, meaning: (1) In Haiti there are a lot fewer of those luxury items lying around to loot. (2) In Chile people can be reasonably confident the disruptions of the earthquake will not lead to mass starvation or epidemics, thus they have the luxury of focusing their attention on an opportunity to grab a few goodies. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-chile-and-looting/530874/3 "2010-03-01T16:56:05Z")
Looting happens in the Unites States during disasters, both natural and manmade. And while perhaps the United States isn’t representative, it certainly is comparatively wealthy. ---
**Author:** ![lalenin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@lalenin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lalenin)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-chile-and-looting/530874/4 "2010-03-01T17:05:25Z")
> [@Dr.Righteous](#): > > I tried searching for a thread on this, so if I’ve created a duplicate I apologize. > > While the earthquake that just happened in Chile was much stronger than the one that happened in Haiti, the damage appears to be less (due to the stronger structures in Chile). Chile is also a richer country - its citizens have, on average, a higher standard of living. > > So why has looting occurred in Chile where it did not in Haiti? From all reports whatever looting happened in Haiti didn’t start until days had gone by, and for the most part was limited to people trying to get food and water and other supplies. In Chile it appears some people are taking advantage of the situation and looting not for life sustaining items, but for DVD players and the like. > > What are people’s theories on why these two similar situations have different results? I for one have no idea what to think about it. I think you’ve been misinformed if you think the looting in Haiti was limited to food and water. See [this article](http://wcbstv.com/national/haiti.earthquake.haiti.2.1427143.html): "What made the situation that much more tense was sightings of gangs of young men with machetes. On Wednesday they were seen getting into stores and taking all the supplies they could carry. The armed men were seen marching up and down the streets with machetes raised and the competition among the gangs turned quite fierce. Fights between gangs were seen on the streets. Machetes were flailing and it was impossible to predict what would happen next. " ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-chile-and-looting/530874/5 "2010-03-01T18:00:53Z")
During Katrina a lot of press was on looting. Letting food and electronics sit in stores with 4 feet of dirty water would have ruined them anyway. In Chili a looter responded," we gotta eat something" when she was caught taking food. ---
**Author:** ![lalenin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@lalenin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lalenin)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-chile-and-looting/530874/6 "2010-03-01T18:05:09Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > During Katrina a lot of press was on looting. Letting food and electronics sit in stores with 4 feet of dirty water would have ruined them anyway. > In Chili a looter responded," we gotta eat something" when she was caught taking food. Well, if she’s eating Chili’s food I’m not sure she didn’t deserve to be shot. ---
**Author:** ![adhay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@adhay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhay)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-chile-and-looting/530874/7 "2010-03-01T18:13:31Z")
All in all, the looting wasn’t that bad according to the [NYT](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/02/world/americas/02chile.html?partner=MYWAY&ei=5065). > [@](#): > > …the police fired water cannons and tear gas to disperse hundreds of people who forced their way into shuttered shops. But law enforcement authorities, heeding the cries of residents that they lacked food and water, eventually settled on a system that allowed staples to be taken but not televisions and other electronic goods. Ms. Bachelet later announced that the government had reached a deal with supermarket chains to give away food to needy residents. Pretty enlightened repsonse, I’d say. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-chile-and-looting/530874/8 "2010-03-01T18:18:41Z")
> [@adhay](#): > > All in all, the looting wasn’t that bad according to the [NYT](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/02/world/americas/02chile.html?partner=MYWAY&ei=5065). > > Pretty enlightened repsonse, I’d say. Quick, too. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-chile-and-looting/530874/9 "2010-03-05T17:31:07Z")
It boggles my mind that Chile just had the 5th largest earthquake in recorded history and the casualties are so low. Good job with building standards guys. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-chile-and-looting/530874/10 "2010-03-05T17:35:35Z")
> [@DanBlather](#): > > It boggles my mind that Chile just had the 5th largest earthquake in recorded history and the casualties are so low. Good job with building standards guys. [And for that, all credit to the socialists!](http://www.thenation.com/doc/20100315/klein) ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-chile-and-looting/530874/11 "2010-03-05T17:47:08Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [And for that, all credit to the socialists!](http://www.thenation.com/doc/20100315/klein) Bah, facts should not get in the way of a good narrative. ---
**Author:** ![adhay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@adhay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhay)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-chile-and-looting/530874/12 "2010-03-05T17:53:13Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [And for that, all credit to the socialists!](http://www.thenation.com/doc/20100315/klein) Facts, facts, facts. Always boring facts. While we’re on the subject, here are some about [Cuba’s aid to Haiti](http://www.counterpunch.org/lindorff01192010.html). > [@](#): > > As for the rest of the US corporate media, they simply ignored Cuba. > > In fact, left unmentioned was the reality that Cuba already had nearly 400 doctors, EMTs and other medical personnel posted to Haiti to help with the day-to-day health needs of this poorest nation in the Americas, and that those professionals were the first to respond to the disaster, setting up a hospital right next to the main hospital in Port-au-Prince which collapsed in the earthquake, as well as a second tent-hospital elsewhere in the stricken city. > > Far from “doing nothing” about the disaster as the right-wing propagandists at Fox-TV were claiming, Cuba has been one of the most effective and critical responders to the crisis, because it had set up a medical infrastructure before the quake, which was able to mobilize quickly and start treating the victims right away. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-chile-and-looting/530874/13 "2010-03-06T04:21:17Z")
What strikes me is that people run out of food so quickly, and then need to seek to raid the stores. It would seem that these folk must go shopping for food just about every day in normal times as they have none on hand. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-chile-and-looting/530874/14 "2010-03-06T05:32:03Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > What strikes me is that people run out of food so quickly, and then need to seek to raid the stores. It would seem that these folk must go shopping for food just about every day in normal times as they have none on hand. I think in many if not most countries (even middle income ones) people do go shopping most days. The idea of storing enough food for a couple of weeks like we do in the US is alien to most people. I grew up in Pakistan, and we were relatively quite well off, but even we bought meat and vegetables almost every day. We had a large sack of rice and another of flour, but not the kind of pantry we now have in our house. I bet we have 50-60 cans or boxes of food, plus a week’s worth of refrigerated and frozen stuff. Well maybe a couple weeks worth of frozen stuff. I know in the Netherlands and Italy, it is common for people to pick up 4-5 items on the way home from work which becomes dinner and breakfast. My experience in the UK is that people are more like the US. Big weekly purchases and lots of stocking up on canned, boxed and frozen food. I work for a supermarket operator with stores in both the US and Europe, and I can see the differences in the buying habits from the frequency and size of the orders. Our average customer in central europe shops 3.5 times a week in our stores alone, while in the US it is less than 1.5 times a week. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-chile-and-looting/530874/15 "2010-03-06T05:45:35Z")
I regularly drop into the shops every day or two to get fresh produce; but if an emergency developed I could last for a few weeks on the food in the house (the cat food may not taste all that flash). However, as you point out, it probably is just different buying patterns. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-chile-and-looting/530874/16 "2010-03-06T06:24:35Z")
Someone once posted that Europeans find it strange that Americans bathe every day, but shop once a week. ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-chile-and-looting/530874/17 "2010-03-08T16:47:37Z")
Im just gratefull that this time the looters had nice european features, my Dad and I have a recuring argument where he states thats It’s allways africans who loot , and in with disasters in say japan or Europe everone comes together to.help eachother ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-chile-and-looting/530874/18 "2010-03-08T17:11:23Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > What strikes me is that people run out of food so quickly, and then need to seek to raid the stores. It would seem that these folk must go shopping for food just about every day in normal times as they have none on hand. That’s what my mother does, in Spain buying food less than 6 times a week is a recent development; most people still buy fresh bread every day, even if they get other items weekly. In France I lived above a baker’s and saw some people there pretty much every day, as I passed by on my way to work. In France, Switzerland and Italy I noticed that most people in the smaller stores (including urban supermarkets) would be carrying one or two bags’ worth of groceries only. I have dry goods at hand at any time, but a steady diet of pasta with pasta and no sauce isn’t very healthy. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-chile-and-looting/530874/19 "2010-03-08T17:39:44Z")
> [@DanBlather](#): > > Bah, facts should not get in the way of a good narrative. Any source which calls Milton Friedman a “fundamentalist” _anything_ is suspect. However, in this case, there is a far more prosaic answer to the various inspisid “it was all because of all the good my particular political/economic fave did” arguments. Simply, the quake, though powerful, was also quite deep and located much farther away from population centers. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-chile-and-looting/530874/20 "2010-03-08T18:41:46Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > Any source which calls Milton Friedman a “fundamentalist” _anything_ is suspect. Was he not a fundamentalist WRT economic libertarianism? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake-in-chile-and-looting/530874.md?page=2)