Feb 27 2010

Chile’s Earthquake: Open Thread

( – promoted by buhdydharma )

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Church In Santiago, Chile

This will be quick and linky.

CNN reports:

A massive magnitude 8.8 earthquake rocked Chile early Saturday, killing at least 122 people and triggering tsunami warnings for the entire Pacific basin.

Numerous tsunami waves have been reported in the Pacific, with one reaching as high as 7.7 feet in the central Chile coastal town of Talcahuano, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

Sirens sounded at 6 a.m. Friday across Hawaii, warning people of a possible tsunami and telling people in coastal areas to evacuate.

“They’re going to sound the sirens to air on the side of caution and make sure there’s enough time to get people out of the evacuation zones, which are the coastal areas that may be affected,” Brian Shiro of the Pacific Tsuanmi Warning Center said.

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said she expected the death toll in her country to rise.

You can get streaming Chile TV here.  News and pictures, updates.  Death toll now more than 120 people.

Live coverage from Hawaii via MSNBC is here.  Threat of tsunami has caused evacuation of beach fronts.

The planet is doing what it is capable of doing.  My thoughts and prayers go out to all in Chile and the Pacific.

——————

Updates (2/27/10, 12:45 pm ET): New photos from WaPo.

Large FP diary by Darksyde at GOS.  Also, first person recc’d diary.

36 comments

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  1. be found here

  2. CSM reporting:

    Not much from the White House yet on the earthquake in Chile. But it’s still very early.

    White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told a pool reporter that, “We are closely monitoring the situation, including the potential for a tsunami. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Chile, and we stand ready to help in this hour of need.”

  3. has this:

    The following locations have tsunami warnings:

    CHILE / PERU / ECUADOR / COLOMBIA / ANTARCTICA / PANAMA /

    COSTA RICA / NICARAGUA / PITCAIRN / HONDURAS / EL SALVADOR /

    GUATEMALA / FR. POLYNESIA / MEXICO / COOK ISLANDS / KIRIBATI /

    KERMADEC IS / NIUE / NEW ZEALAND / TONGA / AMERICAN SAMOA /

    SAMOA / JARVIS IS. / WALLIS-FUTUNA / TOKELAU / FIJI /

    AUSTRALIA / HAWAII / PALMYRA IS. / TUVALU / VANUATU /

    HOWLAND-BAKER / NEW CALEDONIA / JOHNSTON IS. / SOLOMON IS. /

    NAURU / MARSHALL IS. / MIDWAY IS. / KOSRAE / PAPUA NEW GUINEA / POHNPEI / WAKE IS. / CHUUK / RUSSIA / MARCUS IS. / INDONESIA / N. MARIANAS / GUAM / YAP / BELAU / JAPAN / PHILIPPINES CHINESE TAIPEI<blockquote>

  4. Countries across the Asia-Pacific region are readying emergency measures drawn up after the Indian Ocean quake of 2004, with the tsunami expected to hit in the next 24 hours.

    Michelle Bachelet, the outgoing Chilean president, declared a “state of catastrophe” in central Chile and said a huge tidal wave had swept into the Juan Fernandez Islands. Local radio stations reported serious damage on the archipelago, which reputedly inspired the novel Robinson Crusoe.

    The president-elect, Sebastian Pinera, said more than 120 people had died in the quake, and the toll was rising quickly. Bachelet said there were more than 85 deaths just in the Maule region, at the quake’s epicentre.

    “We have had a huge earthquake with some aftershocks. We’re doing everything we can with all the forces we have. Any information we will share immediately. Without a doubt, with an earthquake of this magnitude, there will be more deaths,” Bachelet said.

    Chile’s interior minister, Edmundo Perez Yoma, said: “It has been a devastating earthquake. The death toll will continue rising.”

    source

  5. that’s here and a request for photos from people in Chile.  Some of the photos are here.

  6. is also aggregating the story here.

  7. has updates via Matthew Yglesias.

  8. here.

  9. Americans seeking info on family/friends in Chile can call Bureau of Consular Affairs at 888-407-4747

  10. Another dreadful event in Latin America.

    Here are some further updates to add to yours (hope none are overlapping):

    Chilean Earthquake Update, 5:00 AM CST

    –CNN: Tsunami advisory issued for California,

          Washington State, Oregon, Alaska.

    –CNN: Tsunami arrival in Hawaii estimated to be 11 AM

          local time.

    —USGS Map, showing quake magnitudes

          throughout Southern Hemisphere

    —Live  Stream from Chile

    —Google Live Updates

    –Daybreak now in Chile; damage assessment intensifies.

    –Telephone communications down.

    –Chilean earthquake strength not quite 1000 times the

          strength of Haitian quake.

    –Preliminary Chilean report: 147 dead.

    –Bridge between north and south portions of Chile is out.

    –Airports closed; flights diverted or returned to points

          of origin.

    –Numerous aftershocks now in Chile; CNN Chile section

          head said he lost count at 25 aftershocks.

    —US State Department information Americans

          seeking information about family and friends in

          Chile, and how Americans now in Chile can report

          in to US Consulate.  1-888-407-4747

    —Twitter & Facebook users providing on-going,

          on-the-ground local coverage.

    (h/t Chip!)

  11. here.

    • rb137 on February 27, 2010 at 23:44
    • #

    I was talking on the phone with my daughter (she lived in Vina del Mar and studied in Valpo), who was concerned about the recovery being coincident with the transfer of power to a right-winged administration. She’s worried that people won’t get the help they need.

    Do you share her concerns? I don’t know enough about Chile to say, but they seem plausible.

    • pfiore8 on February 28, 2010 at 00:32
    • #

    sometimes it makes me wonder if there isn’t really a god. shaking an angry earthquaking fist . . .

    • TMC on February 28, 2010 at 00:45
    • #

    MSF Sends Teams to Chile to Evaluate the Situation After Today’s Earthquake

    MSF staff from Argentina and other parts of Latin America should start arriving this evening in Santiago de Chile to assess the needs of the population.

    • TMC on February 28, 2010 at 03:13
    • #

    Underwater Plate Cuts 400-Mile Gash

    The magnitude 8.8 earthquake that struck off the coast of Chile early Saturday morning occurred along the same fault responsible for the biggest quake ever measured, a 1960 tremor that killed nearly 2,000 people in Chile and hundreds more across the Pacific.

    snip

    Experts said the earthquake appeared to have no connection to a magnitude 6.9 quake that struck off the southern coast of Japan late Friday evening. Nor was the Chilean event linked to the magnitude 7.0 quake that occurred in Haiti on Jan. 12.

    That quake, which is believed to have killed more than 200,000 people, occurred along a strike-slip fault, in which most of the ground motion is lateral. The Chilean earthquake occurred along a thrust fault, in which most of the motion is vertical.

    Mr. Lin said his calculations showed that the quake on Saturday was 250 to 350 times more powerful than the Haitian quake.

    snip

    When they occur underwater, thrust-fault earthquakes like the one in Chile are far more likely to create tsunamis than quakes on strike-slip faults, said David Schwartz, an earthquake geologist with the geological survey in Menlo Park, Calif. “When they slip, the fault that causes the earthquake breaks the surface, and pushes the water up,” he said. “It pushes an awful lot of water. And that water has to go somewhere.”

    (emphasis mine)

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