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| Situation Update No. 20 Ref.no.: EQ-20100227-25098-CHL
Situation Update No. 20
On 2010-02-27 at 21:31:46 [UTC]
Event: Earthquake
Location: Chile Región del Maule 42 km W Cauquenes
Number of Deads: 147 person(s)
Number of Injured: ? person(s)
Situation: One of the most powerful earthquakes in decades battered Chile on Saturday, killing at least 147 people, knocking down buildings and triggering a tsunami that rolled menacingly across the Pacific. Buildings caught fire, major highway bridges collapsed and debris blocked streets across large swathes of central Chile. A 15-storey building collapsed in Concepcion, the closest major city to the epicenter, and overturned cars lay scattered below a fallen overpass in the capital Santiago. Telephone and power lines went down, making it difficult to assess the full extent of the damage and loss of life. Chilean President-elect Sebastian Pinera said at least 147 people had died in the 8.8-magnitude quake, which struck at 3:34 a.m. (0634 GMT), sending many people rushing from their beds and onto the streets in fear. "It came in waves and lasted so long. Three minutes is an eternity. We kept worrying that it was getting stronger, like a terrifying Hollywood movie," said housewife Dolores Cuevas. |  | | | |
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