Meat riots On October 22, 1905, some of the poorest people in Santiago organized a march to protest for the high price of meat. The price of meat was kept artificially high by the government, by means of the combination of a special tariff applied to cattle imports from Argentina, in order to protect the domestic producers, and high inflation. These factors put the price of the product beyond the financial means of a high percentage of the population. By the time the march had arrived peacefully to La Moneda and asked for an audience with President Riesco, it had already swelled to about 25 to 30 thousand people. The people started to grow impatient when the president didn't appear, and when the police tried to dissolve them, they fought back and tried to storm the presidential palace. The police responded by shooting at the crowd, and riots ensued. The violence lasted for almost a week, with widespread riots and looting, in what was called the Meat riots or the red week. Between 200 and 250 protesters were killed over this period. This revolt emphasized that the social problems were far more serious than what the authorities believed. Antofagasta general strike A few months later, a similar revolt took place in Antofagasta. The workers that were laying the rails for the Antofagasta-Bolivia railroad presented a letter of demands to management, that was completely refused by the company. As a result, a general strike was called. The previous experience with the Meat riots alerted the government, that decided to send in the Esmeralda regiment and the cruise-ship Blanco Encalada to reinforce the local forces. On February 6, 1906, approximately 3 thousand workers gathered in the public square of Antofagasta to protest in favor of his demands. The troops opened fire on the unarmed workers, causing approximately 58 deaths and more than 300 injured. Valparaiso earthquake The earthquake had been announced ten days earlier by the chief of the Navy Metheorological Office. August 16, 1906 started as a very clear day, but in the afternoon started to drizzle. As the sun was setting, and when most of the people were having their suppers, came the first shock. It lasted for about 4 minutes. After the first shock, people started to look for survivors. After approximately fifteen minutes, the second shock hit the port. This one was shorter, approximately a minute, but far