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.