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| Situation Update No. 9 Ref.no.: EQ-20100227-25098-CHL
Situation Update No. 9
On 2010-02-27 at 11:33:35 [UTC]
Event: Earthquake
Location: Chile Región del Maule 42 km W Cauquenes
Number of Deads: 52 person(s)
Situation: At least 52 people have been killed after a huge earthquake struck the Chilean coast, causing buildings to collapse in the capital Santiago. President Michelle Bachelet has declared a "state of catastrophe" following the quake, which measured a significant 8.8 on the Richter scale. She added that a huge wave had swept into a town in the south of the country. Tsunami warnings have been issued for at least 53 nations, including South American countries, Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand, Japan, the Philippines, Russia and many Pacific islands. The quake shook Santiago for about a minute and a half in the early hours of the morning. In the moments after the quake, people streamed onto the streets of the capital, hugging each other and crying. Several big aftershocks later hit the south-central region, including one with a magnitude of 6.9. The international airport was forced to close, a highway bridge collapsed and chunks of concrete fell from buildings. There were also power cuts and phones lines were down in the city, which is about 200 miles away from the quake's epicentre.
That was close to the town of Maule, and happened at a depth of 22 miles at 03:34am (06:34am UK time). Communications were down in the area nearest to the epicentre, which was only 56 miles from the second largest city Concepcion, where more than 200,000 people live along the Bio Bio river. In Santiago, a witness called Enzo said: "There's still no news from the epicentre. The city is mute, there's no internet or telephone connection. "And still I know nothing of my family in Concepcion." President Bachelet said parts of the country were without basic services and called for calm. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said of the quake: "Sea level readings indicate a tsunami was generated. "It may have been destructive along coasts near the earthquake epicentre and could also be a threat to more distant coasts."But reports later claimed the tsunami warning had been lifted in southern Chile, citing the country's navy. |  | | | |
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