Sunday, March 14, 2010
Monday 15th March
Rang Talca today. Couldn't get through to 2 phones, but got my brother Hugo. Talked to my mother there also, as she has moved temporarily to Hugo's place while they find other arrangements for her. Those 3 big aftershocks were the last straw for her and she's adamant she wants out of there. The strongest aftershock in Talca so far has been the Thursday one that sent people on the streets in Santiago, felt at 6.9 in Talca. Trouble is he says, there's no rental places available, as people are too afraid to live in apartment buildings. He says the newest ones - that had apartments still to be sold! - also fell or were declared inhabitable. Other new, smart looking buildings also fell, one of them housed the Banco Santander branch in Talca. This bank employs hundreds of people in Talca... imagine if the earthquake had been during the day instead of in the middle of the night... this makes me so angry... I never imagined that there would be shoddy building practices in Chile.
Friday 12th March
Heard on the news this morning that the new Chilean president was sworn in and there was an aftershock right then at 11 am that morning, the building had to be evacuated. It was a level 7.2... this was felt like a proper earthquake even up to Valparaiso.
They lost power in many places again.
Dennis and I are going away for the weekend, I'm not sure I'll be able to relax after this piece of news...
Email from my brother Ricardo today says:
"Tuvimos 4 replicas una tras otra, 3 fueron super fuertes, estamos aterrados, afortunadamente no me ha pasado nada todavia, pero esto ya parece el Apocalipsis.
Asi como estamos, todavia no hay calma, puede que despues no podamos comunicarnos quizas en cuanto tiempo
Un fuerte abrazo"
"We have just had 4 aftershocks one after the other, 3 really strong ones. We're terrified. Fortunately, I've been spared again, but this is feeling like the end of the world. As it is, there's no calm. It may be that we'll loose communication again, who knows for how long...
They lost power in many places again.
Dennis and I are going away for the weekend, I'm not sure I'll be able to relax after this piece of news...
Email from my brother Ricardo today says:
"Tuvimos 4 replicas una tras otra, 3 fueron super fuertes, estamos aterrados, afortunadamente no me ha pasado nada todavia, pero esto ya parece el Apocalipsis.
Asi como estamos, todavia no hay calma, puede que despues no podamos comunicarnos quizas en cuanto tiempo
Un fuerte abrazo"
"We have just had 4 aftershocks one after the other, 3 really strong ones. We're terrified. Fortunately, I've been spared again, but this is feeling like the end of the world. As it is, there's no calm. It may be that we'll loose communication again, who knows for how long...
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Tuesday 9th March
Spoke to Ricardo today. My mother has finally learnt of the extent of it all and realised that there's not many people left in her apartment building. She's very upset and wants to leave the apartment. Ricardo has been staying overnight or taking her to his place. And we have a maid coming to keep her company during the day. We'll arrange for a final departure from her renting apartment as soon as possible.
Saturday 8th day
Chatted with a nephew from Curico on Facebook. First time I hear of someone actually dying. They were friends of theirs, father, mother and daughter who lived in an old house. My nephew helped to find them. He was also helping at a charity called Techo para Chile (A roof for Chile). I'm glad he's been busy and trying to be useful, as he won't be starting Uni just yet.
Another nephew (Hugo's son) has also been collecting food, water, blankets etc at his place and was travelling today to coastal areas to distribute them.
One of Pia's sons, Jurgen, appeared on Facebook today announcing that they had finally got power back in their suburb. They were the last ones as they live more central than the others and downtown Talca is the worst affected. Her other son has been helping friends who owned shops in downtown, and collecting door to door for charities.
Another nephew (Hugo's son) has also been collecting food, water, blankets etc at his place and was travelling today to coastal areas to distribute them.
One of Pia's sons, Jurgen, appeared on Facebook today announcing that they had finally got power back in their suburb. They were the last ones as they live more central than the others and downtown Talca is the worst affected. Her other son has been helping friends who owned shops in downtown, and collecting door to door for charities.
Thursday, 6 days after...
Spoke to sister Pia again. Hadn't been able to get through to her since 1st day. They managed to learn from contacts that her husband Gunther's sister and brother who live in Concepcion were save. Very few have managed to learn about their relatives in Concepcion yet. We only hear that there's widespread looting there.
Pia says the aftershocks are so strong (highest 6.3) that everyone's nerves are on edge. They set up camp in their backyard, as too afraid to sleep inside the house. She says that almost half of Talca is on the ground or with flags ready for demolition. She had to be present from 3 to 7 pm for 2 consecutive days, when the authorities came to clear the rubble of the building they owned in the corner of their house. Before that, she had managed to save her students'files and office papers from the rubble against everyone telling her off and not to get near it. She hasn't heard from the owner, who's from Concepcion, but she started looking for another building straight away, as she loved that job... but there's nothing and prices for leasing or renting anything whatsoever have soared. Understandibly she's very depressed about this. She hadn't got electricity back yet in her house. Fortunately, Gunther was back at work on Monday. He works as a Sales Rep for a big chain of hardware stores... so they have been busy.
Pia says the aftershocks are so strong (highest 6.3) that everyone's nerves are on edge. They set up camp in their backyard, as too afraid to sleep inside the house. She says that almost half of Talca is on the ground or with flags ready for demolition. She had to be present from 3 to 7 pm for 2 consecutive days, when the authorities came to clear the rubble of the building they owned in the corner of their house. Before that, she had managed to save her students'files and office papers from the rubble against everyone telling her off and not to get near it. She hasn't heard from the owner, who's from Concepcion, but she started looking for another building straight away, as she loved that job... but there's nothing and prices for leasing or renting anything whatsoever have soared. Understandibly she's very depressed about this. She hadn't got electricity back yet in her house. Fortunately, Gunther was back at work on Monday. He works as a Sales Rep for a big chain of hardware stores... so they have been busy.
Wed. 3 March - 5 days after earthquake
I managed to get through to my mother last night. They had just had power restored in her apartment, and were getting some water (a trickle) from the tap. Before that, my brother Ricardo had brought in water for them. Power is on and off (it went off while we were on the phone). My mother sounded all right. I thought she would be struggling to cope now that everything would have sank in, and the change of routine and the aftershocks could be upsetting her terribly, but she still sounded blissfully unaware of what has been going on ... in the circumstances, perhaps is not a bad thing! Mind you without power, she hasn't been able to learn much about the extent of it all.
Today I received an email from my brother Ricardo. He's lucky to have Internet, he says, as most people still can't get it back, and his computer had not suffered any damage! He says many people from my mother's apartment building have left the building because it had been declared temporarily inhabitable. The Council has been checking houses and buildings and placing a flag in the ones that need to be pulled down and people have to vacate. Eventually the flag was taken down and the buiding was declared habitable again, so she'll be staying. But Ricardo has been staying with her overnight, as she does get scared with the aftershocks. She's been sleeping with her clothes on - doesn't dare to get her nighty on yet.
I also managed to get through to Hugo's house today, being 11 o'clock at night there. They had just arrived back from Panguipulli (near Villarrica Volcano). It took him about 12 hours to return, the roads looked pretty bad and had to do many detours into towns etc as many bridges are broken. He had a lot of material damage inside the house, and his kitchen sink and tops had come off the wall! but thankfully hadn't found any cracks on the walls. They had left a key with a neighbor who had been to clear their freezer. Their eldest son had hitchhiked back to Talca earlier though (it took him 2 days to return), as they were afraid for the safety of their house as the government hadn't given any help yet to the most affected and people have been looting supermarkets and empty houses. He was also supposed to start University today - for the first time!, but starting date has been moved to March 15th. He doesn't think his University has suffered much damage as it's a new building, but he has gone past others that look in very bad shape.
Hugo told me about Gustavo... He did have some agonizing moments with his daughter Soledad and little Federica (his granddaughter). As it happens Soledad, who lives in Argentina, was holidaying in Chile at Iloca, one of the beaches on the affected coast. For 2 and half days they didn't know if she was dead or alive. She was staying with some friends there, and again, there was no warning from the authorities of a tsunami, but she says that somebody just shouted tsunami and she picked up her daughter and together with her friends, started up the hill in her little car, had an accident in the dark going up and had trouble starting it as she was so nervous, but managed to get to the top. They waited till morning to see the devastation below. They were stranded there for a long time, with no means of getting through to family. They dared to come down the hill to see if her friends house (holiday home) had been saved, and it had! as fortunately it wasn't that close to the sea.... Even so, they could only get to it by foot, as it was too muddy to drive. They picked up some food and clothes and went back to the hill - the aftershocks still being so strong that they feared there could be another earthquake or tsunami. Those that had their houses closer to the sea and managed to get away from the waves, tell of having seen cars with people inside being washed away...
Eventually she turned up at her grandmother's place in Hualañe, near Curico and could let her family know that they were both alive.
She describes the widespread devastation she saw on the road, little towns and beaches on the way to her grandmother's, all on the ground. In all of that area there are ... (there were now)... lots of historic buildings, even a town called Vichuquen which had been declared a World Heritage town by UNESCO. She says the images of desolation, grief and distress she saw will stay with her for a long time. The driving was slow, as it was a constant caravan of cars wanting to get home from their holiday destinations. She passed many towns at night, people in the streets with bonfires lit and covered in blankets to protect themselves from the cold (even though is Summer in Chile, coastal zones are much cooler).
Most shops are still closed, if they sell anything it's rationed. Prices have soared. Phone lines are still hit and miss.
Today I received an email from my brother Ricardo. He's lucky to have Internet, he says, as most people still can't get it back, and his computer had not suffered any damage! He says many people from my mother's apartment building have left the building because it had been declared temporarily inhabitable. The Council has been checking houses and buildings and placing a flag in the ones that need to be pulled down and people have to vacate. Eventually the flag was taken down and the buiding was declared habitable again, so she'll be staying. But Ricardo has been staying with her overnight, as she does get scared with the aftershocks. She's been sleeping with her clothes on - doesn't dare to get her nighty on yet.
I also managed to get through to Hugo's house today, being 11 o'clock at night there. They had just arrived back from Panguipulli (near Villarrica Volcano). It took him about 12 hours to return, the roads looked pretty bad and had to do many detours into towns etc as many bridges are broken. He had a lot of material damage inside the house, and his kitchen sink and tops had come off the wall! but thankfully hadn't found any cracks on the walls. They had left a key with a neighbor who had been to clear their freezer. Their eldest son had hitchhiked back to Talca earlier though (it took him 2 days to return), as they were afraid for the safety of their house as the government hadn't given any help yet to the most affected and people have been looting supermarkets and empty houses. He was also supposed to start University today - for the first time!, but starting date has been moved to March 15th. He doesn't think his University has suffered much damage as it's a new building, but he has gone past others that look in very bad shape.
Hugo told me about Gustavo... He did have some agonizing moments with his daughter Soledad and little Federica (his granddaughter). As it happens Soledad, who lives in Argentina, was holidaying in Chile at Iloca, one of the beaches on the affected coast. For 2 and half days they didn't know if she was dead or alive. She was staying with some friends there, and again, there was no warning from the authorities of a tsunami, but she says that somebody just shouted tsunami and she picked up her daughter and together with her friends, started up the hill in her little car, had an accident in the dark going up and had trouble starting it as she was so nervous, but managed to get to the top. They waited till morning to see the devastation below. They were stranded there for a long time, with no means of getting through to family. They dared to come down the hill to see if her friends house (holiday home) had been saved, and it had! as fortunately it wasn't that close to the sea.... Even so, they could only get to it by foot, as it was too muddy to drive. They picked up some food and clothes and went back to the hill - the aftershocks still being so strong that they feared there could be another earthquake or tsunami. Those that had their houses closer to the sea and managed to get away from the waves, tell of having seen cars with people inside being washed away...
Eventually she turned up at her grandmother's place in Hualañe, near Curico and could let her family know that they were both alive.
She describes the widespread devastation she saw on the road, little towns and beaches on the way to her grandmother's, all on the ground. In all of that area there are ... (there were now)... lots of historic buildings, even a town called Vichuquen which had been declared a World Heritage town by UNESCO. She says the images of desolation, grief and distress she saw will stay with her for a long time. The driving was slow, as it was a constant caravan of cars wanting to get home from their holiday destinations. She passed many towns at night, people in the streets with bonfires lit and covered in blankets to protect themselves from the cold (even though is Summer in Chile, coastal zones are much cooler).
Most shops are still closed, if they sell anything it's rationed. Prices have soared. Phone lines are still hit and miss.
Tuesday 2 March
Got hold of a cousin in Santiago on Facebook. They had a big scare with a sister in law and her daughter who were on holiday in Constitucion, the most affected beach (300 people dead so far)... with a huge tsunami. They had no warning whatsoever of a tsunami but fortunately it occurred to them that it might happen and rushed up the hills. They were stranded there for a long time, but managed to let the family know that they were safe. When returning to the place they were staying (a small resort that belonged to a friend of theirs), all the dwellings were gone. There was only the hole of the swimming pool and some iron bars left.
The owner, family friends since childhood, had just expanded the number of cabins in the resort and already had a huge debt on those.
My cousins family also lost a 100 something year old house the family owned in a small beach settlement called Chanco. Apparently there's nothing left of Chanco.
The owner, family friends since childhood, had just expanded the number of cabins in the resort and already had a huge debt on those.
My cousins family also lost a 100 something year old house the family owned in a small beach settlement called Chanco. Apparently there's nothing left of Chanco.
Monday night 1st March
I have gradually been getting more information.
I got to chat with two friends from Santiago on Facebook, they are on a 10th and an 11th floor. They both reported how harrowing the movement of the buildings and the shattering of things falling and braking were. Some other friends here have told me that their relatives had their doors jammed and had to use tools to open it or get people to break in to let them free. Most areas of Santiago these days are full of high-rise buildings, so most people live in apartments. However, people living in apartments seem to have suffered more material damage, as although the buildings are earthquake resistant, that makes them sway more in an earthquake. Both these friends were going to spend the night at friends who live in houses. Elevators, to get back to their places, would not work for no power or be broken down. Another friend here told me that a relative of hers on a 23rd floor, had windows broken, which is not very nice when you're trying to get out in the dark.... I bet after this, lots of Chileans are going to rethink the idea of living in apartments.
I got to chat with two friends from Santiago on Facebook, they are on a 10th and an 11th floor. They both reported how harrowing the movement of the buildings and the shattering of things falling and braking were. Some other friends here have told me that their relatives had their doors jammed and had to use tools to open it or get people to break in to let them free. Most areas of Santiago these days are full of high-rise buildings, so most people live in apartments. However, people living in apartments seem to have suffered more material damage, as although the buildings are earthquake resistant, that makes them sway more in an earthquake. Both these friends were going to spend the night at friends who live in houses. Elevators, to get back to their places, would not work for no power or be broken down. Another friend here told me that a relative of hers on a 23rd floor, had windows broken, which is not very nice when you're trying to get out in the dark.... I bet after this, lots of Chileans are going to rethink the idea of living in apartments.
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