Woke up with a bang– literally–at 3:35 this morning. By now you’ve all heard that most of Chile was hit by one of the strongest earthquakes on record with a magnitude of 8.8 (the world’s largest was also in Chile–9.5 in Valdivia in May 1960).
I’ll write a more detailed post tomorrow, but just wanted to thank all of you who have expressed your concern and let you know that my family and friends are among the lucky ones. No one hurt and no real damage done.
In the meantime here’s a link to a a selection of truly unbelievable Chilean Earthquake Pictures.
Here’s a little piece I wrote for the Guardian yesterday : Chile’s earthquake: view from Santiago
Also see Liz Caskey’s Post about her experience of the Earthquake in Chile.
Here are some thoughts I had after a much smaller quake about a year ago: Earthquake, waiting for the big one.
Again-sincerest thanks to everyone who’s following this. Chile is going to need your help.
Cachando Chile: Reflections on Chilean Culture 
Margaret
Espero que usted y familia se encuentren bien… le deje un recado en otra page…
Dios los bendiga y proteja…
Solange
Hola Solange-
Sí, lo vi… muchísimas gracias. Nosotros estamos entre los afortunados y quedamos pendientes de todos los demás…esta será otra noche larga.
I am glad to hear that you are ok. That must have been a tad terrifying. I hope things remain somewhat calm, considering…
Hi Annje- Thanks.
Oh yeah… to say the least… but we’ve commented with friends today about how adrenaline seems to take over and beats out fear… the knee quivering started kicking in much later.
Thank u so much for posting so much useful info. My niece and nephew are ISA students located at Buenos Aires. They were on spring break and were headed to Santiago then to the beach. They made it to Santiago and finally were able to call home to the US. So again thank u for being our eyes!! God bless you and I will pray for u and ur family. Stay safe!!
Hi Margaret,
Well, you seem to be fine, that’s a relief. I hope that goes for your friends and family as well.
Best
John
Hi John-
Yes, fortunately. Everyone’s still jumpy- had a peaceful night, but just had another aftershock a couple minutes ago that sent everyone running for the door. But hopefully the worst is behind us now.
Thanks John-
I’m such a pedant.
It was 8.5 on the Richter Scale, which Chile is using and 8.8 on the Moment Magnitude Scale (MMS) which the rest of the world is now using.
Both scales a generally consistent for tremors but for the big stuff there are slight differences.
It doesn’t matter which figure you quote as long as you assign the correct scale.
Hi Shark-
Thanks for the correction. As you know, the information that’s been coming out has been changing moment by moment and not always the most correct…
I’m in the process of writing an update for this post now with more info.
Thank you Margaret for your reporting. You are a great story teller and I enjoy your articles. Glad you and your family are safe and well.
Great article in The Guardian. I’m glad you’re OK. Have been reading your blog for a while now to prepare for the move we made last month from the UK to Vina. All is OK here, we’re impressed with how calm and organised it’s been so far. Getting TV back yesterday was a shock though, I can’t believe the devastation in the South.
Hi Kelli Anne- thanks… I’ve spent the morning checking on things and people around town and will be posting a couple follow-ups this afternoon.
Hi Nat- Yes, I’ve been reading your blog too… always interesting to see through someone else’s eyes what I’ve been looking at for a long time. Gives a fresh perspective.
People in Chile are not new to this phenomenon and generally react with an amazing amount of calm. And yes, we too were shocked when we started seeing the devastation in the south!
Muchas gracias por toda la infoemacion que nos haces llegar.
Que tristeza mas grande.
solange
Lions Clubs International Foundation is providing relief for earthquake victims in Chile, check our blog for more info: http://lionsclubsorg.wordpress.com/2010/03/05/story-of-the-week-lcif-committed-to-relief-efforts-after-earthquakes/
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