The earthquake that struck the town of Concepción in Chile before dawn on Saturday – the fifth strongest ever recorded – does not show humanity at the mercy of the blind forces of nature. It demonstrates, instead, that lives and livelihoods are much more vulnerable to a society's response to catastrophe than to natural disaster itself.

Heart-rending as they are, Chile's deaths and losses are far smaller than those of Haiti, struck seven weeks ago by an earthquake that was a thousandfold weaker. This reflects that Chile is one of the most earthquake-stricken countries on earth, and its people know how to take precautions. But Chile is also the region's arguably best-run state: it has the economic resources and the administrative capacity to, for example, pass and enforce strict building codes.

At a delicate political moment – president-elect Sebastian Pi?era takes over from president Michelle Bachelet next week – everything now depends on Chile's leaders to stop the natural disaster from growing into a man-made one.