San Juan Bautista, Chile

Transportation

Since early 2010, a pair of ships, operated by the Chilean Navy, arrives each month from the mainland. The number of passengers is limited, so arrangements must be made a month or more in advance; reservations are first-come, first-serve until capacity is reached, with preference going to the locals. A one-way trip by boat takes approximately 2–4 days, or around 48–96 hours, depending on maritime conditions.

There is a small, 885 m airstrip, Robinson Crusoe Airfield, at the southwest of the island, the only reasonably flat part of the landmass. The airfield typically can only accommodate smaller, twin-engine craft with no more than around seven passengers (and with very light luggage). The average flight-time from the mainland is about 2.5 hours, followed by a roughly 90-minute ferry ride to the town proper, located at the opposite end of the island.

Climate

San Juan Bautista has a subtropical with mediterranean influence climate (Köppen Cfa), with rainfall intermediate between that of Valparaíso and Concepción. Temperature is influenced by the cold Humboldt Current, which flows northward to the east of Robinson Crusoe Island, and the southeast. A city with similar climatic parameters to San Juan Bautista is Vila do Corvo in the Azores islands. {{Weather box "Logbook of the Ship American of Nantucket", by Henry Gifford, Falmouth, MA, USA. 1841-1844.

2010 tsunami

On 27 February 2010, at least eight people lost their lives when a tsunami caused by the Chilean 8.8 earthquake hit the island and inundated the town. Most of the buildings in the community were destroyed. The disaster could have been worse if not for a timely warning from a 12-year-old girl named Martina Maturana, which saved many of her neighbors from harm.

References

Attribution

• The original version of this article included text from the Wikipedia article Robinson Crusoe Island.

References

1. [http://www.ine.cl/canales/chile_estadistico/demografia_y_vitales/demografia/demografia.php INE - Demografía - Demografia y Vitales]
2. [https://archive.org/details/FalmouthPublicLibraryMAAmericanShip1998.173 "Logbook of the Ship American of Nantucket", by Henry Gifford, Falmouth, MA, USA. 1841-1844.]
3. [http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2010/02/12/ciencia/1266002130.html "Los náufragos de la Isla Robinson", by Angel Mustienes, El Mundo, Spain. 12 February 2010.]
4. Papadakis, Juan, 1980. El clima; Con especial referencia a los climas de América Latina, Península Ibérica, Ex colonias Ibéricas, y sus potencialidades agropecuarias. 377 p. Editorial Albatros.
5. "Temperatura Histórica de la Estación – Juan Fernández (330031)". Dirección Meteorológica de Chile.
6. "Datos Normales y Promedios Históricos de la Estación – Juan Fernández (330031)". Dirección Meteorológica de Chile.
7. Filleux, Patrick. (3 March 2010). "Tsunami sur l'île Robinson Crusoé: la moitié du village emportée". AFP.
8. Liepmann, Erica. (4 March 2010). "Chilean Girl Saves Her Island From Tsunami After Earthquake". Huffington Post.