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The Mauli earthquake occurred at dawn on the 22nd of February 2010. It triggered a tsunami that caused severe damage all along the coast, north and south of Santiago, the capital. I went there in 2011, 18 months after the disaster, an ideal time to study the recovery process.
Speed
After a disaster, there is an urgency to get back to ‘normal’ as quickly as possible. Families living in tents or temporary housing want to move into permanent homes, and people and businesses need to get back to work. All this puts pressure on the authorities to act quickly.
Deliberation
There are opportunities after a disaster to reflect on what went wrong. But deciding how to ‘build back better’ needs thoughtful deliberation, consultation and community support. This takes time; time which people affected by the disaster don’t feel they have.
The Goldilocks Principle
The Goldilocks Principle means rebuilding neither too quickly nor too slowly, but at the right speed to restore normal life while simultaneously reducing future risk. Very few managed to do both. Chile was one of them. This account explores how they did it.