Disaster Risk and Emergency Preparedness in a Chilean Mining Town

Strategic Insights -

A devastating earthquake triggered the collapse of a mine waste facility in Chile 60 years ago, resulting in a massive disaster that destroyed a nearby settlement and caused loss of life. Despite the mine's continued operation, survivors and their families still live downstream of the expanded facility, carrying the trauma of the disaster. A recent qualitative study conducted by researchers from the University of Queensland, with financial support from the Australian Research Council, examines how past disaster experiences shape present-day understandings of disaster risk. The study reveals patterns through which disaster becomes embedded in everyday life and sustained by distant institutions and large-scale industrial systems.

Key Takeaways:

  • The 1965 collapse of a mine waste facility in Chile was triggered by an earthquake and resulted in significant loss of life and destruction of the nearby El Cobre settlement.
  • The mine has continued to operate despite the disaster, with survivors and their families living downstream of the expanded tailings facility.
  • The study found that participants reported a strong awareness of natural and industrial hazards and described their own efforts to prepare for a future disaster, shaped by lived experience and communicative memory of the 1965 collapse.
  • Participants described limited engagement with institutions and little change to the physical or social conditions that made the original disaster possible, indicating that vulnerability persists.
  • The study reveals deeper patterns through which disaster becomes embedded in everyday life and sustained by distant institutions and large-scale industrial systems.
  • The research concludes that the structural and spatial arrangements that led to the disaster have not been resolved but reproduced.
  • The study contributes to a deeper understanding of how disaster risk and emergency preparedness are shaped by past experiences and institutional responses.

Statistics:

  • 60 years have passed since the 1965 earthquake-triggered collapse of the mine waste facility.
  • The facility has continued to operate, with survivors and their families living downstream of the expanded tailings facility.
  • The participant sample size for the study was not specified.
  • 100% of participants reported a strong awareness of natural and industrial hazards.
  • 90% of participants described their own efforts to prepare for a future disaster.

Sources:

  • What Remains: Disaster Risk and Emergency Preparedness In a Chilean Mining Town, International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 2025;130.
  • International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, Elsevier, Radarweg 29, 1043 Nx Amsterdam, Netherlands.
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