Terremoto

I've been without a functional computer since mid-January, so there's a whole whole whole lot to catch up on. However, that extensive recap has to wait a little bit longer. This entry is a quick jump out of my narrative to address in a timely fashion the thing that most people are concerned about--the earthquake.

When the earthquake hit, at 3:34 AM on Saturday the 27th of February, I was fast asleep in my bed. I stayed fast asleep. I was with my mom(dear Roz Becker was visiting from the USA) in a cabin in the rural river valley of Chepu on Chiloe Island, about 430 miles (700 kilometers) south of the epicenter. I woke up the next mornging around 7:30 when a friend from Curicó, Francisco, called me. He asked me where I was and how I was. In my very gravelly I-just-woke-up voice, I told him I was fine in Chiloe, and asked him the same. He told me he was in Curicó, and that there had been an earthquake. I thought little of it-- he didn't tell me any details and the power was out so I couldn't get any news. Carefree, I went kayaking with my mom. When I came back, the power had returned and from the minute of TV I managed to snag, I realized what a catastrophe it was. I was worried. My new host family was in Concepcion, 71 miles (115 kilometers) south of the epicenter, and Curicó where I have been living for 6 months and have many friends, is less than 100 miles (160 kilometers) from the epicenter. Both were all over the news. Internet was down and cell phone service and signal were both extremely patchy. My mom was scheduled to fly out the next night, and we had bus tickets to Santiago for that night (we actually almost booked the bus for the night before, which would have left us incredibly close to the epicenter at the moment the earthquake struck). We managed to talk to the airline, found out that the airport was closed for at least the next couple of days, and managed to reschedule her to the next available flight-- Thursday.

We decided that the best course of action was to head into Ancud, the nearby town, to talk to the bus company and try to be able to get connected. When we got there, the bus company told us that becuase of all of the bridges that were down and other road obstacles, there weren't any buses heading to Santiago yet, but if we came back the next evening, they'd know what's going on. After that, we went back to our hostel and checked the internet. When I checked my email and my facebook, I realized that many people back home were extremely worried. My mom and I were both a little taken aback-- we hadn't really seen anything on TV, hadn't gotten news from anywhere else, and hadn't been affected by the earthquake in anyway other than being without power, internet, and sure travel plans. It was very comforting that so many people cared (thanks!), but it really made a lot of the seriousness of what had happen sink in. We reassured everyone that we were okay, then waited to figure out what the best course of action was.

When we went back to the bus station, they told us that the first available bus was to leave Wednesday night (this was on Sunday), so, we decided to pass the days in Puerto Varas (great city, but that's for the next blog) until we could get north. In Puerto Varas, it was surreal knowing what had happened because the only evidence of the terremoto there was the absurdly long line at the one gas station that had gas(it goes well past what you can see in the photo). Other than that it was life as usual there, although with a cloud of worry always hovering nearby. The bus was overnight, so we saw little damage en route. When we got to Santiago, there was also little to see, but we were affected. Several places we intended to go were closed, though I believe it was all for the havoc wreaked within the building and not for structural damage. At the end of the day, after my mom had headed of to the airport (3 hours early because the terminal had been torn up by the quake), I took the last bus home to Curicó.

I arrived at about 11:30 to something quite different than I was used to. As we entered the centro, I saw many houses with crumbling facades, crumbling roofs, was expecting to take a colectivo home (they generally run till midnight) but none came. Therand a few that had collapsed quite entirely. There were also very few people out, and a ton of government/emergency/police vehicles with their lights flashing. I didn't know, but there was a midnight curfew imposed on the area to prevent the looting that was prevalent in many affected regions. That night, after I got back to my house, I heard some of what had happened to my family in Concepción, and felt my first earthquake/tremor/aftershock ever. Actually, my first three within 35 minutes, measurinng 5.7, 5.2, and 4.9, respectively. Replicas (Aftershocks) are still quite frequent here. Although I don't think any of them have been strong enough to be destructive--none have been over 7 and very few have been over 6.

The next day, when I went into the centro, I brought my camera as I went around taking in all of the damage.
I've spent the last couple of days helping out-- one day I helped put together a house's foundation using the rubble from a house that had collapsed with a side-trip to see the damage around the little town that we went toand yesterday and today I helped unload, sort, and package donated food that came through Chilean Red Cross.
There are a lot of people helping, and while there remains a lot of disorganization, some things are pretty incredible given that only a week has passed. For instance, a star-studded, entertaining, and heart-felt, 24 hour telethon was put together, broadcast on every channel, and raised over 60 million US dollar, doubling its goal. Money and manpower are the things that the various organizations helping out need most, and as I figure most of you reading aren't close enough to offer your time, below are a few ways that you can help out monetarilly. Also, keep your eyes and ears open because I'm working with some other exchange students here and Rotary to start our own relief fund.

By Text Message
For anyone in the US, send a message to 90999 to donate $10 US to the Red Cross (I believe it will be charged to your cell phone bill)

Online
Click here to easily donate to Un Techo para Chile (A Roof for Chile), the organization that's already very active and evident on the ground building houses for those who have lost their own, and distributing the necessities to those in need.

Bank Transfer (I feel like this is the option that will be less used, but just in case)
Here is the bank information for donations to Un Techo para Chile (described above) from the US:

FUNDACION UN TECHO PARA CHILE
Cuenta 0-051-000-8500-5
Banco Santander Chile
RUT: 65.533.130-1
SWIFT: BSCHCLRM
Dirección: Bandera 140
Santiago, Chile

Información Banco Intermediario
Cuenta: 2000192290409
WACHOVIA BANK N.A. (N. YORK)
SWIFT: PNBPUS3NNYC
ABA: 026005092

And to wrap things up, here's the photo that all of Chile has been rallying around

FUERZA CHILE!