The main reason is that the buildings in Chile had to conform to greater regulations with more steel reinforcement. The state there is a capitalist state but in fear of enraging its powerful working class it imposed regulations on its own construction and banking sector to make them include more earthquake protections.
Why was this not done in Haiti? The state there has been the corrupt creature of the extremely weak Haitian capitalist class for decades. But more so it has been the creature of the US capitalist class which have looted and controlled Haiti for decades. So they did not enforce any regulations and building codes of any significance.
Both earthquakes were natural disasters. But the difference in the death tolls is not an accident. The difference is caused by US imperialism's extreme dominance of Haiti and its complete disregard for the health and welfare of the people there. Its main focus has been to get its profits out and make sure the island did not become a base for revolutionary struggle. To do this they propped up the murderous torture regimes of the Duvaliers for decades and when the country elected a reform administration they brought that down and chased its leaders out of the country.
Capitalism is a murderous rotten system. It has forfeited its right to exist. For a democratic socialist world.
Sean.
Another element to this scenario is the agrarian policies of the US. The US creates extremely cheap subsidized food that they then force on all their rivals, such as cheap corn to Mexico. In Haiti, like elsewhere this forced millions off the land and into the 3rd world's mega shanty towns. It's another element of the poverty in Haiti, one that has been increased dramatically in recent decades and one that led to hundreds of thousands of deaths.
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