Lima would need about US $ 35,530 million for reconstruction if there were an earthquake

The dawn of this friday january 7, Lima registered an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.6 on the Richter scale, which once again set off the alarms of preparedness and awareness to prevent a large-scale earthquake.

Adrián Ward, head of placement of the insurance broker Lockton Peru, points out that the capital of the country is a city vulnerable to earthquakes because “the Andes mountain range is the youngest in the world and is subject to a continuous transformation, driven by the collision of plates, which is the trigger for these natural disasters.”

“A great tectonic deformation is accumulating off the coast of Peru that can give rise to a seismic movement greater than magnitude 8.5. If such an earthquake occurred near Metropolitan Lima and Callao, the buildings would have to withstand a telluric movement that could last up to five minutes, “he said.

Lima would be the most affected city

The latest report prepared by Lloyd on the City Risk Index 2015-2025, cited by Ward, highlights that the Peruvian capital is the city with the highest risk of damage worldwide in the event of an earthquake between 8.5 and 8.8. degrees. The economic losses in Lima could reach US $ 35,530 million without including the risk of a tsunami.

Inside the studio, Lima is above cities like Such, ranked 6th with $ 18.083 billion in losses. In South America alone, according to Llod’ys, Caracas ranks 11th with losses of around US $ 12.024 billion; Bogotá is in 12th position with US $ 11,085,000 million; I take the 19th place with losses of 6 million dollars; and Mexico City in 20th place with 5 million 93 thousand dollars

On the other hand, Ward stressed that the destruction and the number of deaths caused by an earthquake not only depends on the parameters of the movement itself (magnitude, distance, duration, etc.) or on the local conditions of the ground, but also on the quality of affected buildings and government disaster response plans.