Chile a million people lost their homes. The earthquake was also followed by multiple aftershocks. Initial damage estimates were in the range of US$15–30 billion, around 10 to 15 percent of Chile's real gross domestic product. Chile achieved global recognition for the successful rescue of 33 trapped miners in 2010. On 5 August 2010 the access tunnel collapsed at the San José copper and gold mine in the Atacama Desert near Copiapó in northern Chile, trapping 33 men below ground. A rescue effort organized by the Chilean government located the miners 17 days later. All 33 men were brought to the
2010 Copiapó mining accident means to find the men were sought. The accident happened soon after sharp criticism of the government's handling of the Chilean earthquake and tsunami. Chile's President, Sebastián Piñera, cut short an official trip and returned to Chile in order to visit the mine. Exploratory boreholes about in diameter were drilled in an attempt to find the miners. Out-of-date mine shaft maps complicated rescue efforts and several boreholes drifted off-target due to the extreme drilling depth and the extremely hard rock. On 19 August one of the probes reached a space where the miners were believed to be trapped but found