wn in Chilean popular culture. The Pedro de Valdivia Bridge crossing the Valdivia River was built in 1954. Valdivia came to be one of the most important industrial centre in Chile together with the capital Santiago and the main port city, Valpara�so.
The commercial and human flux Valdivia suffered two setbacks in early 20th century, first the connection of Osornoby railroad to central Chile which meant that Valdivia lost the quality of being the port that connected Osono toCentral Chile.[] Later on 1911 the opening of the Panama Canal meant a decrease in ship traffic all over Chile since ships travelling fom the north Atlantic to north Pacific did not longer had to pass through the Straits of Magellan or visit any Chilean port.
Great Chilean Earthquake and Los Lagos Region (1960�2006)
On May 22, 1960, Chile suffered the most powerful earthquake ever recorded, rating 9.5[] on the Moment magnitude scale, with Valdivia being the most affected city. The earthquake generated devastating tsunamis that affected Japan and Hawaii. Spanish-colonial forts around Valdivia were severely damaged, while soil subsidence destroyed buildings, deepened local rivers, and created wetlands of the R�o Cruces y Chorocomayo - a new aquatic park north of the city.
Large sections of the city flooded after the earthquake, and a landslide near the Tralc�n Mount dammed the Ri�ihue Lake. Water levels in Lake Ri�ihue rose more than 20 meters, raising the danger of a catastrophic break and of destroying everything downriver. Government authorities drew plans for evacuating the city, but many people left on their own. Danger to the city was reduced after a large team of workers opened a drainage channel in the landslide; water levels of the lake slowly returned to normal levels. There is evidence that a similar landslide and earthquake happened in 1575.
The 1973 Chilean coup d'etat and the military's actions that followed brought dozens of detainees to
