It is not the Earthquake, it is the Reconstruction: Presidential Approval and Economic Outlook in Chile before and after the 2010 Earthquake

We estimate the aftershocks of the 2010 earthquake on presidential approval and on economic outlook in Chile. After twenty years of center-left Concertación governments, Sebastián Piñera, a rightwing moderate was elected president in January of 2010. On February 27, 2010, an 8.8 magnitude earthquake and a tsunami hit Chile. The initial bases of support for presidents Bachelet (2006-2010) and Piñera (2010-2014) were different. Bachelet had stronger support among the poor, while Piñera did better among the well to do and more educated. Controlling for those variables and distinguishing between earthquake areas and the rest of the country, we find that people in earthquake areas were more likely to approve of President Piñera regardless of their political orientation. The poor in earthquake areas had a more positive economic outlook than the poor elsewhere, but the middle class in the affected areas was more pessimistic than in the rest of the country.