Earthquake Hits Chile

8.8 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Chile



On Saturday, February 27, 2010, at 3:34 a.m., an earthquake of 8.8 magnitude hit Chile, with the epicenter located 70 miles northeast of Concepcion and 200 miles south southwest of Santiago, Chile’s capital city.

Tremors were also strong along the cordillera of the Andes Mountains in Argentina and felt as far away as Buenos Aires. At present there are reports of 800 dead in Chile.

Chile has a long history of earthquakes, with 13 quakes of magnitude 7.0 or stronger in the last 35 years. According to the United States Geological Survey, the May 1960 earthquake, at magnitude of 9.5, was the largest quake in the past 200 years.

We include here a report sent to us by an expat who was, along with her husband, in Santiago, Chile, the night of February 27, along with the account of another expat living near Bariloche, Argentina. Our special thanks to both for sharing their experience with us! First the account from Chile.

We are now at the Don Eduardo Hotel in Temuco. I was very worried about coming here with all the reports of looting etc., but I wanted very much to get out of Santiago in case one of the aftershocks took the power out again or a second quake happened. I think that, with so much structural damage to some of the older buildings, like our hotel, another mild to large quake or aftershock might bring some of the already damaged ones down.

It has taken us 12 hours to take a normally 7 hour trip to Temuco from Santiago. Our exit route from Santiago was down the Pan American Highway (Route 5) to Temuco. The road is inland so we didn’t see Concepcion, which was most affected by the quake and tsunami. Some of the coast supposedly was hit by a two-story wave after having been hit by the earthquake.

I heard stories of people falling out of 12 story buildings and surviving.

The night of the quake, I really thought it was time for me to meet my Maker. We jumped out of bed at 4 a.m. and ran the few steps to an archway in the room. Both of us felt the building starting to lurch. We held onto the walls of the archway. The shaking was tremendous. Everything—lamps, books etc.—fell to the floor.

I was trying to decide if we should lie on the floor near the bed or get near the window so that we wouldn't be under so much rubble if it fell when Martin suggested we dive into the closet.

Then suddenly it stopped moving . . . phew!! Chunks of wall plaster fell. There were vertical cracks all over the hotel and a significant ten-foot horizontal crack just at head height over our bed. I had brought flashlights but there was enough moonlight that we were able to gather a few important things and book for the lobby four stories down.

Most of the guests and staff spent the night in the lobby. There were over 130 aftershocks but only several were large enough to send me running again. I slept the next night with my shoes on!

We are now two hours away from our house in the south of Chile. Thankfully that area was hit very mildly as far as damage, although there was looting in some places. But the power is back now and people have water again. There are long lines for gas with 30 or more cars in queue. There are shortages of things here because the roads and bridges were damaged.

Of the people we saw on the news here, many were apologizing in the beginning about looting the shops. They hadn't had any food or water for more than 24 hours and were feeling desperate. Women were crying that they had children to take care of, the government wasn't giving them any support, and they had no idea when help would arrive. Many had lost everything and only escaped with the clothes from their backs.

Then it got out of hand. People were raiding department stores, taking washing machines and other items. That was just plain opportunism then.

The police here are excellent. They are not corrupt and between them and the military they got things under control quickly. I still don't understand why they had water canons to spray the looters but didn't have any water to give them to drink.

The people here are really lovely. This is a country with a good work ethic. There is no doubt a lot of poor but they have a large middle class for their income levels. There is petty crime in this country but they generally don't have major or severe crime. I was amazed at how tranquil and accepting the people have been--really laid back and taking it all in stride for the most part.

The hotel staff has been great, helping the tourists as best they can. People are constantly trying to help us out (not invasively so) in ways like pointing out the direction we should take on the subway when we look confused and are digging through maps and looking like scatterbrained tourists. One man at the bus station stopped me on the street and was scolding me. I had no idea what he was saying. Finally he walked over and, in a very fatherly manner, pulled at my backpack showing me he wanted me to wear it hanging in the front so I could see it. I didn't feel worried but did it obligingly.

We are cautious travelers, but we haven't felt threatened or in danger of any kind except as previously mentioned.

I was surprised that they are already busy working on the road to get traffic moving down the main highway. The pavement is buckled and many fissures in the road make for lots of drops and we got rerouted through many, many small towns.

Regular flights out of the capital may be delayed for up to a month.

Next an account from Patagonia area near Bariloche, Argentina. Bariloche is in the cordillera of the mighty range of Andes Mountains which lie along the border with Chile.

There was an 8.8 Richter earthquake in Chile this morning . . . actually quite a distance from my house . . . but I woke about 4 am to my house shaking, things rattling around, etc. This is a big solid house made of blocks and concrete. with large timbers in the ceilings.

Still half asleep, I thought the house was going to break off the cliff and fall into the ravine . . . after a little while it stopped so I went back to bed and soon it was doing it again.

So, I rounded up my laptop and my passport and decided how I should get out of the house. Then I remembered I was not dressed! I heard a few voices of the neighbors. And if the house fell it would crush my car and there I would be on the street with my computer in hand, but no clothes.

Well, it stopped soon. So I put on my clothes and went back to bed.

You can see a list of previous earthquakes in Chile by going to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_in_Chile.

©Arlean Kelley 2/28/2010