On 27 February 2010, a 8.8 magnitude earthquake hit central Chile followed by 122 aftershocks of magnitude 5.0 or greater. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the earthquake hit 56 miles northeast of the city of Concepcion at a depth of 22 miles.
Afterwards a tsunami hit the coastal town of Constitucion (Maule region) imposing additional damages and killing about 350 people. The overall death toll could reach 800 while about 2 million people are affected in some way.
The G-MOSAIC Rapid Geospatial Reporting Service (RGR) was triggered by the UN Department for Field Support soon after the earthquake. On Sunday February 27th in the morning, both the Italian Ministry of Defence (General Staff) and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (Crisis Unit) expressed their interest in being informed about any possible evolution in the ground damage assessment, as a possible involvement in the rescue activities could be needed in case Italian citizens were affected or a request for international intervention was made by the Chilean authorities.
The data and products delivered or being developed include:
- Damage assessment
- Critical infrastructure analysis (e.g. water treatment plant, airport, harbour)
- Reference
- Vector reference analysis
- Vector reference database
