Material World

The science of earthquakes. After the powerful Chilean earthquake and the devastating events in Haiti, Quentin Cooper talks to scientists who try to make sense of it all. The Chilean event was the fifth most powerful on record, but the far weaker Haitian one was among the most deadly. Earthquakes this century have killed three quarters of a million - far more than projected - yet as the Chilean quake has shown, if buildings are well constructed and people are well prepared, casualties do not have to be astronomical.