Salon: Chile was ready for quake, Haiti wasn't

The difference between today's earthquake in Chile demonstrates the increased adaptability and resistance to disaster that comes with wealth. If we want to help developing nations, we have to give them the infrastructure and self-reliance to weather this kind of devastation.

Chile is wealthier and infinitely better prepared, with strict building codes, robust emergency response and a long history of handling seismic catastrophes. No living Haitian had experienced a quake at home when the Jan. 12 disaster crumbled their poorly constructed buildings...

...Survivors of Haiti's quake described abject panic -- much of it well-founded as buildings imploded around them. Many Haitians grabbed cement pillars only to watch them crumble in their hands. Haitians were not schooled in how to react -- by sheltering under tables and door frames, and away from glass windows.

Chileans, on the other hand, have homes and offices built to ride out quakes, their steel skeletons designed to sway with seismic waves rather than resist them...

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