Omori's Law

I suppose everyone has heard about the M 8.8 earthquake that occurred early Saturday morning in Chili. That was an unusually strong earthquake and there have been a large number of aftershocks most between M 5.5 and M 6.2 in the last few days. Omori's Law states that the number of aftershocks decreases in an inverse proportion to the time after the main strike. The magnitudes slowly decrease too and will eventually return to normal but it may be a few months before this happens.

The victims of an earthquake take the blunt of what happens but in a disaster of such magnitude they need the help of their neighbors, the country as a whole and the international community. If we can't prevent earthquakes from happening we need to have assistance programs in place and the means to get aid to those in need. Here are some efforts in place:

International Strategy for Disaster Reduction

Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction

Pan American Health Organization