I certainly read him as ignorant. He handwaves at the fact that poor people have less money than rich people. But it doesn't seem to have made much difference in his commentary.
As comparison, the world loses over 100,000 people each year to measles; the solution to that has been understood for decades, and deploying it is a lot easier than building to withstand a 7.9 earthquake.
The existence of techniques to fix a problem is not the only thing standing in the way to fixing a problem.
He mentions "economic" as an inpediment in passing, still going on about why these people don't impement proper construction tecniques. It's like Maria Antoanete story, were she's told that the people can't afford bread and he says "well, why don't they eat cake then?".
Plus the way he talks about the "third world" this and that is borderline racist (and disrespectful).
As comparison, the world loses over 100,000 people each year to measles; the solution to that has been understood for decades, and deploying it is a lot easier than building to withstand a 7.9 earthquake.
The existence of techniques to fix a problem is not the only thing standing in the way to fixing a problem.