News & Politics - 8.8 Earthquakes Hits Chile

-Kelly- · 02-27-2010, 08:49 AM

WARNING LIST: Latest News Alerts #pacific

scary.

free2live · 02-27-2010, 02:08 PM

Tsunami should be hitting Hawaii any minute now, according to CNN

**sunnykerr** · 02-27-2010, 03:43 PM

I'm sure we'll hear more about this over the next few days.

It's reported that the quake had 500 times the force of the one in Haiti, but since this one hit under water, it's expected that there will be fewer casualties. Of course, right now, tsunami waves are already heading towards Hawaii, so that may come to change.

I have friends who moved here under Pinochet (their father is a university professor) and they live here now, but their family is in Santiago, and there's been quite a lot of damage in Santiago, so I hope everyone's alright.

I hope no one minds if I moved their posts from the thread about the earthquake in Haiti.

**Primordial** · 02-27-2010, 06:00 PM

You can add my post from there to the top of this one if you wish.

I was watching live news from Chile from 8pm Perth time...

vc318 · 02-27-2010, 06:02 PM

Hi Clint. Thanks for stopping by.

They're estimating 214 casualties right now:

Huge quake hits Chile, sparks tsunami - Chile earthquake- msnbc.com

My goodness. What is going on lately?! Haiti and now this...

**Primordial** · 02-27-2010, 06:14 PM

Was 78 when I went to bed, considering that Haiti one killed more than the 2004 Tsunami and more to come from Haiti, this one might supercede them both. As I went to bed a 15 storey apartment fell over in Chile full of sleeping residents.

Although one thing to note, there are many variables in Tsunami's. Such as whether the quake that sparked it was un land or under the ocean, how close to land it was if it were under the ocean, which countries (island ones) are in the path of the Tsunami (the land mass of the islands under the ocean I mean such as New Zealand) Plus quite a few other people variables to each country where the quake/Tsunami could hit. Chile is used to getting them so their buildings are more solid for some part (some are not because they are not a very rich country but they do what they can.)

surgeryhouston · 02-27-2010, 08:34 PM

Looked like a scene from a movie in some of the pictures I saw. Abandoned cars just littering the highways.

**sunnykerr** · 03-01-2010, 08:01 PM

The death toll keeps rising, but fortunately Chile has an infrastructure to rely upon:

Quote:

Troops deployed amid Chile unrest

Thousands of Chilean troops are heading to the country's devastated earthquake zone as reports emerge of desperate survivors turning to looting and arson.

President Michelle Bachelet said a total of 7,000 troops would soon be in place in areas around Concepcion, the city closest to the epicentre.

An air bridge has been set up between Santiago and Concepcion, with 100 tons of food aid due in the next few hours.

At least 723 people have been confirmed dead in the 8.8-magnitude quake.

Bachelet said reinforcements would join the troops already in the provinces of Bio Bio and Maule, bringing the total to some 7,000.

Concepcion is under another night under curfew, which has been extended to be in force from 20:00 until noon on Tuesday.

Reports are emerging from the city of residents clashing with police as they lay siege to shops and supermarkets in the search for food.

Quote:

CHILE QUAKE - LATEST
# Official death toll rises from 300 to more than 700
# Tens of thousands forced to live outdoors because of damaged homes
# Troops in Concepcion arrest 160 people as they try to stop looters stealing from shops
# One man shot and killed during looting disturbances
# Limited services resume on Santiago metro and at international airport
# Pacific-wide tsunami alert lifted

The army was called in to help the police force deal with looters, some of whom filled shopping trolleys with groceries while others made off with plasma TVs and other electrical appliances.

Some 160 people were arrested for looting and breaking the curfew, police said on Monday.

Clashes with looters saw one 22-year-old man shot and killed.

And by Monday evening tensions had flared once more, with troops deployed to the streets after a blaze began in a looted supermarket.

Chilean newspaper La Tercera reported that despite the presence of troops, a huge fire was intentionally started at a building housing the Polar department store.

The blaze caused the building to collapse, La Tercera reported. Marco Riquelme, a regional spokesman for the department store, told La Tercera the incident was a "clear example" of the "chaotic situation" survivors were enduring in Concepcion.

Hospital set to collapse

Reports are beginning to emerge of the scale of the devastation in areas south of the Chilean capital, Santiago.

A BBC team that reached the town of Curico, between Santiago and Concepcion, said 90% of the town historic centre had been damaged.

The town's Mayor, Hugo Rey Martinez, told the BBC's Will Grant the hospital building was compromised and would soon collapse.

However, food and water was being distributed and the situation was comparatively calm, our reporters said.

In coastal towns and villages hit by giant waves after the earthquake, the scale of destruction is becoming clear.

More than 300 bodies were reportedly found in the fishing village of Constitucion alone. The mayor of Constitucion said the town's seafront and centre had been "completely destroyed".

In the port of Talcahuano, more than 20 boats were swept ashore and dumped in the streets by the waves.

Plane crash

Relief efforts are beginning to get under way, with the United Nations pledging to send aid quickly to the earthquake zone.

Many of Concepcion's 500,000 inhabitants are short of food and have seen their water and electricity supplies cut off.

UN spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said Chile had requested field hospitals with surgery facilities, mobile bridges, communications equipment, kitchens, and disaster assessment and co-ordination teams.

However, the domestic aid effort suffered a setback when a small plane carrying six people crashed near Concepcion, killing all those on board.

The small Chilean plane, which was carrying an aid and assessment team to Concepcion, crashed close to the nearby town of Tome on Monday afternoon, local media reported.

About two million Chileans are believed to have been affected by Saturday's earthquake, the seventh most powerful on record and the worst disaster to befall Chile in 50 years.

The epicentre of the quake was 115km (70 miles) north-east of Concepcion and 325km (200 miles) south-west of the capital Santiago.

About 1.5 million homes in Chile have been damaged. Most of the collapsed buildings were of older design - including many historic structures.

One US risk assessor, Eqecat, has put the cost of repairing the damage at between $15bn and $30bn (£9.8bn - £19.6bn) or 10-20% of the country's gross domestic product.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would visit Santiago on Tuesday and meet Bachelet and Pinera, officials said.

The European Union has pledged 3m euros ($4m; £2.7m) in emergency aid for Chile. Japan said it was providing an emergency grant of $3m, as well as sending tents, generators, water cleaners and other emergency gear, while China has pledged $1m.

BBC News - Extra troops deployed amid Chile earthquake unrest

I hope everything continues to get better and better. This has been devastating.

**sunnykerr** · 03-02-2010, 05:21 PM

An update:

Quote:

Pleas for calm amid Chile rubble

Chile's president has appealed for calm in the earthquake-ravaged city of Concepcion, vowing a stern response to any renewal of looting and violence.

Michelle Bachelet says 14,000 troops are now in the region, after dozens of people were arrested on Monday.

A BBC reporter in Concepcion says police are now posted on street corners in the city centre, but says that aid convoys are yet to reach the needy.

The death toll from the 8.8-magnitude quake now stands at 795, officials say.

Emergency workers also say 19 people are still unaccounted for.

'Necessary measure'

A special air route is being set up to deliver aid from the capital, Santiago, to Concepcion, 430km (270 miles) away.

But security in the city remains a key concern after shops and homes were looted on Monday and police made large numbers of arrests.

The deteriorating security situation in Concepcion comes despite the influx of thousands of troops to reinforce local police.

"We can say that, according what we've been told from the area, the situation in Concepcion is under control today," President Michelle Bachelet said on Tuesday.

But, she added, authorities would take any "necessary measure" to stop renewed looting.

"Our principle objective is to go and help people tackle the emergency in the disaster zone.

"I want them [looters] to understand this and that they'll receive rigorous legal action. We will not tolerate such actions."

Many of the city's 500,000 inhabitants are short of food and have seen their water and electricity supplies cut off.

Aid agencies have yet to reach Concepcion, reports the BBC's Andy Gallacher, who has reached the city, and many people are still awaiting water, food and mattresses.

However, at least two police officers appear to be posted on every corner in the city centre, our correspondent says.

Some residents quoted by Reuters news agency said they were organising groups to defend their property.

Coastal destruction

Reports are also beginning to emerge of the scale of the devastation in other areas.

Up to 90% of the mud-and-wood buildings in the historic centre of Curico had been destroyed or damaged, and a hospital badly damaged, BBC reporters said.

Some coastal towns and villages were also hit by giant waves after the earthquake, with some reported to have been completely destroyed.

Reports from the town of Pelluhue suggested that a series of tsunamis swept through what was a tranquil seaside resort, destroying houses and claiming many lives.

The government admits that its attempts to provide aid swiftly have been hampered by damaged roads and power cuts.

The air supply route between Santiago and Concepcion will help the authorities send more than 300 tonnes of aid, including 120 tonnes of food, to the worst-affected area of the country.

Communication problems

International aid has begun arriving. Neighbouring Argentina is flying a field hospital over the Andes to Chile and has pledged half a million litres of much-needed drinking water.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva flew to Santiago and offered his nation's support, as did US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Mrs Clinton took a consignment of satellite phones with her to Santiago after the Chilean government requested communications equipment alongside field hospitals and water purification units.

"We stand ready to help in any way that the government of Chile asks us to," said Mrs Clinton, adding: "The United States will be there to help when others leave.

After touring the disaster zone, Chilean President-elect Sebastian Pinera - who takes office on 11 March - said the situation was worse than he had expected.

"When we have a catastrophe of this magnitude, when there is no electricity and no water, the population... starts losing the sense of public order," he said.

About two million Chileans are believed to have been affected by Saturday's earthquake, the seventh most powerful on record and the worst disaster to befall Chile in 50 years.

Quote:

# AID PLEDGES (in US$) Australia: $4.5m
# European Union: $3m
# Japan: $3m
# China: $1m

The epicentre of the quake was 115km (70 miles) north-east of Concepcion and 325km south-west of the capital Santiago.

About 1.5 million homes in Chile have been damaged. Most of the collapsed buildings were of older design - including many historic structures.

One US risk assessor, Eqecat, has put the cost of repairing the damage at between $15bn and $30bn (£9.8bn - £19.6bn) or 10-20% of the country's gross domestic product.

BBC News - Bachelet urges Chile earthquake survivors to stay calm

ale_tapia · 03-02-2010, 05:40 PM

i'm from Concepcion and all i gotta say is that in here the eartquake cause its fair amount of trouble but the people's reaction is causing far more problems, i'm glad i live literally up in a mountain cause there hasn't been that many "outsiders" in here because after two days people have stole ALL of the supermarkets and stores in here and about 80% of them are burned down for no reason and now that they have nothing else to steal they're going into houses armed, when night comes is just scary you can hear the gunshots and you're worried sick for your family because they're keeping night guards (virtually every community has closed down roads that lead to their houses and has stablished night guards) and to top it's all dark because there's no light (well water and light were given back today monday, but they keep giving it and taking it away after a few hours).

Just yesterday i went down the hill and you could see people camping because they were afraid of a tsunami (concepcion is near shore) and down on the streets gas stations were destroyed in some military had been stationed so that people couldn't steal more oil, i saw people just walking into the already destroyed stores and seing if there was anything they could take away i mean they've stole dogs, plasma tv, a blockbuster, they even made lines in the supermarkets to steal them! it was worse than a horror movie i mean one thinks movies show you scary things, well none of the movies i've watched compare to what i saw. Now the thing that worries my parents the most is the fact that we don't know when we're going to be given food again, when some place, any place, is going to start selling again that's one of the top concerns in everybodys minds today.

**sunnykerr** · 03-02-2010, 05:57 PM

Thank you for sharing your experience. It's so hard for the rest of us to truly understand what is going on. I can't imagine going through this. I can imagine how scary it must be, especially not knowing what will happen when the food runs out.

My thoughts are with you. That's all I can say.

I hope everything is resolved to your satisfaction soon.

ale_tapia · 03-02-2010, 06:16 PM

thank you

**sunnykerr** · 03-03-2010, 07:04 PM

I hope today was a good day for you.

Meanwhile...

Quote:

Chile earthquake: President Michelle Bachelet 'failed to grasp scale of devastation'

Chile’s President Michelle Bachelet has been accused of incompetence, after she was criticised for failing to grasp the scale of the country’s devastating earthquake.

As the first supplies began trickling into the country's worst-affected areas on Wednesday, the outgoing President was subjected to a storm of anger for her government’s failed response to the disaster.

Critics said the 58 year-old's government had failed to grasp the true scale of the tragedy, had poorly managed law and order and rescue efforts and had initially refused offers of international aid.

Amid mounting anger the beleaguered Chilean President, who was sent a message of condolence from the Queen, denied on Wednesday that there was a risk of fuel or food shortages after the weekend’s powerful 8.8-magnitude earthquake.

On Wednesday thousands of Chilean troops appeared to have maintained law and order after organised gangs looted supermarkets, torched buildings and raided homes.

The government had earlier imposed a dusk-til-dawn curfew and doubled the number of troops struggling to maintain control in areas that had resembled “war zones”, including Concepc�*on.

The Government has admitted the devastation was “worse than expected”, with many towns and villages completely cut off and many Chileans forced to sleep on the streets.

Jacqueline Van Rysselberghe, the mayor of Concepc�*on, the country’s second largest city, accused the president, whose approval rating hit 83 percent late last month, of failing to act fast enough to bring order to the chaos.

There weren't enough troops to restore calm and efforts to distribute food, water and temporary shelter have fallen short, she said.

“Help is starting to arrive in the area, but unfortunately it’s late,” she told Chile radio.

“The amount of aid that’s arrived is insufficient.”

La Terceira, an influential daily, on Wednesday said Mrs Bachelet’s government had shown “incomprehensible weakness and slowness” at maintaining law and order and co-ordinating relief operations for thousands of homeless and hungry.

El Mercurio, a conservative publication many consider Chile’s paper of record, called on billionaire President-elect Sebastian Pinera, who takes office next week, to “restore hope” to Chile.

Victims also joined the chorus of criticism.

“No one from the government has even showed up to tell us what to do, much less give us any help,” said Julio Valle, a fisherman whose trawler was destroyed in the port of Talcahuano.

"The government has abandoned us to our fate. We’re on our own."

The criticisms came as figures showed aid agencies were appearing to struggle to raise money for relief efforts amid fears the world community was becoming disaster weary.

Mrs Bachelet, reportedly jailed and tortured by the military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet, said there was no risk of fuel or food shortages and defended her government’s poor handling of the crisis.

Speaking after she met Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State – who had offered moral support – Mrs Bachelet admitted rescue efforts were slow because of mangled roads, downed bridges and power cuts.

"People probably are always going to feel that we could have done things better. You can always feel that things could have been done better but the truth is it will always be insufficient,” she said.

“There is no shortage, there is enough food and therefore we must remain calm.

"There is also enough fuel, there is no risk of shortages."

Chile’s agricultural, wine and fishing industries have been “seriously affected by the catastrophe", she said.

Electricity has started to come back on in the cities of the two most affected regions, Maule and Bio Bio, Mrs Bachelet added.

“That makes the emergency work easier in many cases. It allows drinking water services to be restored and, most importantly, it provides people with reassurance,” she said.

A total of 799 people have been confirmed dead, a further two million people have been affected and an estimated 1.5m homes destroyed.

Mrs Bachelet, whose father was an air force general sympathetic to the government of Salvador Allende who was opposed to the 1973 military coup and died in jail, admitted the death toll would rise sharply as relief teams reach isolated areas.

Rescue workers on Wednesday increased search efforts for survivors.

Search teams, with sniffer dogs, scoured cities and villages as more bodies were pulled out of mountains of rubble.

On Wednesday Military trucks and helicopters delivered some food and water for victims in some of the worst affected areas.

The quake triggered a Pacific-wide tsunami and, according to a NASA scientist, probably shifted the Earth's axis. It has also severed roads, disrupted power to industry, destroyed exports and wiped out entire communities.

The Chilean navy admitted some deaths in the tsunami could have been avoided.

Admiral Edmundo Gonzalez said some lives could have been spared in coastal areas if a tsunami warning had been issued earlier.

“We were not very clear in the information that we delivered,” he said.

“We weren’t precise enough in telling the president to maintain the alert or lift it. We share the blame.”

Reports in the local media claimed a 12-year-old girl almost saved an entire population of the small island, Robinson Crusoe, 435 miles off the country's coast.

She had noticed boats "bouncing" in the harbour and ran to a village "gong", which warned of impending danger.

The incoming finance minister, Felipe Larrain, said he was studying different ways to raise funding for building reconstruction.

Local reports said Mrs Bachelet’s government was considering revising the 2010 budget to direct infrastructure funds intended for northern Chile to quake-hit areas.

Mr Pinera said: “This is not the time to evaluate the performance of the government. This is not the time to cast blame ... This is the time to provide solutions, and evaluations can come later.”

Oxfam in America said it had raised just $4000 in the four days since the earthquake struck, compared to $2.9 million over the same period following the Haiti earthquake in January.

Chile has asked the UN’s humanitarian co-ordination office for field hospitals, mobile bridges, communications equipment and disaster assessment team.

Chile earthquake: President Michelle Bachelet 'failed to grasp scale of devastation' - Telegraph

Personally, I think Mr Pinera is right on the money. Obviously, I can't speak to Bachelet's response during this time, but now's not the time to waste time and energy blasting her. Now is the time for action, for solutions, for cooperation.

vc318 · 03-03-2010, 07:29 PM

ale_tapia, thank you as well for sharing your experience.

Sunny, that's a shame to hear. That is pretty reckless considering she's the president. Now the U.S. is coming under criticism for not responding quickly enough to the devastation in Chile. What do you guys think about this?

**sunnykerr** · 03-03-2010, 07:55 PM

Considering this is the biggest earthquake on record, it's kinda hard to blame anyone for not anticipating just how damaging it turned out to be.

I hadn't heard that anyone was criticizing the American response time, though. That's interesting, considering how people are usually a little leery of any U.S. interest in South America.


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