Disaster management and resilience in electric power systems: the case of Chile

Contreras Mojica, Diana and Shaw, Duncan 2016. Disaster management and resilience in electric power systems: the case of Chile. Presented at: 6th International Disaster and Risk Conference (IDRC 2016), Davos, Switzerland, 28 August - 01 September 2016. Published in: Ammann, Walter J. ed. Extended Abstracts. Davos, Switzerland: Global Risk Forum (GRF), pp. 151-154.

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Abstract

Chile is one of the countries located at the Ring of Fire. This belt concentrates subduction zones such as between the Nazca and South America Tectonic Plate, which is the reason for the intense seismic and volcanic activity in Chile. The strongest earthquake in the last years (Mw 8.8), took place the 27th February 2010. The earthquake triggered a tsunami which devastated several coastal towns in south-central Chile. The official death toll was 521, while the number of missing was 56. The Government declared 6 regions as zone of Catastrophes: Valparaiso, Metropolitana,Maule, BioBio, and Araucania. It is estimated that the earthquake generated a power outage that affected the 93% of the country; therefore, the electricity and communications were initially interrupted, but later mostly restored. However, it took some days in the case of some locations. Electricity infrastructure is key for the function of critical services (health, traffic control, water supply), which are necessary for undertaking the emergency response tasks after an earthquake and/or a tsunami. In normal times, the electricity infrastructure is necessary to sustain human and economic wellbeing since it supplies energy to industrial, commercial financial sectors, communication networks, and hence almost all activities in modern societies. There are four electricity supply systems in Chile: the Central Interconnected System, the Norte Grande Interconnected System, the Aysén and Magallanes. Nevertheless, the biggest system regarding installed capacity (75%) and population served (93%) is the Central Interconnected System, therefore the most important. In this project we want to support the implementation of community resilience due to power outages caused by earthquakes and tsunamis. To achieve this aim we plan to collect and analyze qualitative data to identify the needs of the affected population due to the power outage and its coping strategies.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Status:	Published
Schools:	Earth and Environmental Sciences
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > G Geography (General) G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GB Physical geography G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HA Statistics T Technology > TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General) T Technology > TK Electrical engineering. Electronics Nuclear engineering
Publisher:	Global Risk Forum (GRF)
Related URLs:	Publisher
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	5 October 2021
Date of Acceptance:	31 March 2016
Last Modified:	05 Oct 2021 12:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/143568

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