2010 Chi l ean Eart hquake

On February 27t h at 3: 47am l ocal t i me a magni t ude 8. 8 eart hquake shook over si x of Chi l e’s f i f t een regi ons, or 80% of t he count ry’s ent i re popul at i on, f or roughl y 90 seconds. The epi cent er was l ocat ed near Concepci ón, Chi l e’s second l argest ci t y. The l ong i ni t i al shakes were short l y f ol l owed by a t sunami t hat l ef t many sout hern Chi l ean port ci t i es devast at ed, and 53 ot her count r i es wi t h t sunami warni ngs.

The quake wreaked havoc on t he hi ghways. I t t oppl ed br i dges and overpasses.

I t even t ore t he roads apart , and i n some pl aces made t hem i mpassabl e, great l y sl owi ng t he response t i me of rescue and ai de workers

Thi s phot o shows how t he t sunami waves moved out ward and l ef t many ot her count r i es on hi gh

al ert .

The coast al ci t i es of sout hern and cent ral Chi l e were soon i n danger of t he t sunami waves creat ed by t he quake. The waves, i n many ci t i es, qui ckl y dest royed what t he quake

had not .

For t he peopl e of t hese cost al ci t i es, not onl y had t he eart hquake and t sunami t aken t hei r homes, but dest royed t hei r j obs t oo as f i shi ng i s t he dr i vi ng f orce of t he

economy i n t hi s area.

Though t he popul at i on of Concepci ón makes i t Chi l e’s second l argest ci t y ( f ol l owi ng Sant i ago) , t he number of peopl e and t our i st i n and around t he area was i ncreased even more si nce t he near by ci t y of Const i t uci ón was hol di ng i t s annual summer f est i val Noche Veneci ana.

As peopl e began t o l ook f or l oved ones and f r i ends, t he number of mi ssi ng and dead st art ed t o r i se. I t peaked r i ght over 800, but due t o a mi st ake t hat added 250 mi ssi ng t o t he l i st of t hose report ed dead, t he number was l owered agai n. Lat er on t he government woul d deci de t o rel ease j ust t he number of i dent i f i ed dead t o t ry t o reduce error and conf usi on.

Two t o t hree days af t er t he i ni t i al quake t he f i rst i mages out of Concepci ón were rel ease and t he wor l d saw j ust how daunt i ng of a t ask t he peopl e and rescue workers were f aci ng.

Because of t he 9. 5 magni t ude eart hquake of 1960 i n Val di vi a, bui l di ng codes i n Chi l e are very

st r i ct , and every new bui l di ng most abi de by t hem

But even so, t hi s new 15 st ory apart ment compl ex

was no mat ch f or t he quake…

I t col l apsed, t rappi ng many of t he resi dent s. Of t he 80 peopl e i t hel d, i t i s report ed t hat t here were onl y 8

casual t i es. A f at her and hi s 7 year daught er ol d on t he 13t h f l oor mi racul ousl y survi ved t he f al l .

Rescue workers have spent ni ght and day f i ndi ng survi vors and hel pi ng f ree t hem f rom t hei r once

home.

Whi l e t he Chi l ean peopl e have done an out st andi ng j ob put t i ng t he count ry back t oget her, t hey st i l l need hel p.

Loot i ng was a probl em i n many of t he af f ect ed areas and t he mi l i t ary was event ual l y sent i n t o i mpose curf ews and st op t he l oot i ng of non-vi t al goods ( l i ke TVs and comput ers) . The government ; however, reached a deal wi t h many of t he compani es t hat al l owed t he mi l i t ary t o gi ve out f ood and basi c necessi t i es t o t he peopl e f or f ree.

Now t hi ngs l i ke f i el d hospi t al s, equi pment , and wat er pur i f i cat i on syst ems are i t ems bei ng request ed by Chi l e.

Col l apsed bui l di ngs and t hose deemed unst abl e and/or dangerous are now bei ng demol i shed.

Local s have come t oget her t o cl ean up t he rubbl e and debr i s. The uni versi t y st udent s have responded t oo and have vol unt eered t hei r t i me, donat ed bl ood, and bui l t houses and wat er syst ems f or t hei r communi t i es.

The l arge need f or f i el d hospi t al s and equi pment i s a resul t of many hospi t al s bei ng damaged i n t he quake.

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Pl ease, hel p us make a di f f erence.