The 1944 San Juan earthquake took place in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of San Juan, in the center-west area of Argentina, a region highly prone to seismic events. This moderate to strong earthquake (estimated

moment magnitude The moment magnitude scale (MMS; denoted explicitly with or Mw, and generally implied with use of a single M for magnitude) is a measure of an earthquake's magnitude ("size" or strength) based on its seismic moment. It was defined in a 1979 pape ...

s range from 6.7 to 7.8) destroyed a large part of San Juan, the provincial capital, and killed 10,000 of its inhabitants, 10% of its population at the time. One third of the province population became homeless. It is acknowledged as the worst natural disaster in Argentine history. The earthquake occurred at 8:52 pm on 15 January 1944 and had its

epicenter The epicenter, epicentre () or epicentrum in seismology is the point on the Earth's surface directly above a hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or an underground explosion originates. Surface damage Before the instrumental pe ...

located 30 km north of the provincial capital, near La Laja in

Albardón Department Albardón () is a department of the San Juan Province (Argentina). It is located in the center south of the same, which emphasizes a desert landscape with mountains and numerous plantations, highlighting the presence of prestigious wineries know ...

. Some 90% of the buildings in the city were destroyed and those left standing suffered such damage that in most cases they had to be demolished. It is considered that the reason for such widespread destruction was the low quality of construction, rather than just the power of the earthquake. In 1944 many of San Juan's houses were made of adobe and the reconstruction programme prompted the creation of a building code that took into account contemporary knowledge of earthquakes and their effect on buildings. Stronger bricks were used, concrete single-story houses were erected and sidewalks and streets were made wider.

Aid and reconstruction

There was some debate as to whether it would be advisable to rebuild the city in the same place, or to take advantage of the situation to move it to a less earthquake prone location. The former alternative was adopted. At the start of the reconstruction, emergency homes were built for the population with funds from the national state. This was the first large-scale state-directed construction plan in Argentina, the first stages of which occurred under Peronist rule. Colonel Juan Perón, later to become president, had met his future wife

Eva Duarte Eva or EVA may refer to: * Eva (name), a feminine given name Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Eva (Dynamite Entertainment), a comic book character by Dynamite Entertainment * Eva (''Devil May Cry''), Dante's mother in t ...

(Evita), during fundraising activities to help the victims. After the 1955 coup d'état ousted Perón, the reconstruction was continued under the ''de facto'' President

Pedro Eugenio Aramburu Pedro Eugenio Aramburu Silveti (May 21, 1903 – June 1, 1970) was an Argentine Army general. He was a major figure behind the ''Revolución Libertadora'', the military coup against Juan Perón in 1955. He became dictator of Argentina, serving ...

. The earthquake caused many families to scatter in the confusion, and left around 1,000 orphaned children. According to historian Mark Healey, the issues surrounding the orphans and the nearly 100,000 homeless had a profound influence on the shaping of social legislation enacted during Perón's first term as president, two years later.Healey, ''Página 12'' interview, August 7, 2006

The modern city

As of 2006, San Juan has a population of around 400,000, and 63% of its approximately 90,000 homes, and 100% of its public institutional buildings, were built under seismic safety regulations. This, however, leaves more than a third of houses as non-seismic-resistant. A study of the seismic vulnerability of the city, conducted by the

National University of San Juan The National University of San Juan (in Castilian, ''Universidad Nacional de San Juan'', UNSJ) is a public university in Argentina. Its seat is located in the city of San Juan, capital of the province of the same name, in the Cuyo region. It wa ...

in 2005, showed that 28% of the outlying neighborhoods present medium risk, and 20% of the city itself can be classified as high or very high vulnerability.

Notes

References

* * Historia del país
''El terremoto de San Juan''
. * Universia Argentina
''San Juan: identifican la vulnerabilidad sísmica''
* EIRD

* Diario de Cuyo. 15 January 2004
''Aniversario del Terremoto del 44''
* Página/12. 7 August 2006

(interview with historian Mark Healey). * {{Earthquakes in 1944 Earthquakes in San Juan Province, Argentina 1944 San Juan, 1944 History of Argentina (1943–1955) San Juan January 1944 events

Aid and reconstruction

The modern city

See also

Notes

References