Electricity and phone service were disrupted and thousands of people fled to higher ground following Friday's quake, but the government quickly announced that there was no risk of a tsunami, and there were no reports of damage or injuries.

President Sebastian Pinera appealed for calm and praised his government and Chileans in general for responding quickly.

"Today we're better prepared," Pinera said. "I think we've learned the lesson of Feb. 27, 2010."

Rodrigo Ubilla, the vice interior minister, said the navy had "totally discounted any risk of a tsunami."

Still, the strong earthquake frightened many Chileans, especially along the coast, where people quickly moved to higher ground.

"There was a preventive self-evacuation," said Vicente Nunez, who directs the National Emergency Office, ONEMI. But he said Chileans could safely return home.

Residents fled their homes in Talcahuano, a port city whose center was ravaged last year by huge walls of water that sent shipping containers and fishing boats into downtown buildings and streets, municipal spokesman Javier Gonzalez told The Associated Press.

Continue Reading...

The 7.2-magnitude aftershock was stronger than the Jan. 12 quake that devastated the Haitian capital. It happened along the same fault zone as Chile's magnitude-8.8 quake on Feb. 27, said geophysicist Don Blakeman at the U.S. Geological Survey in Golden, Colorado.

"When we get quakes in the 8 range, we would expect to see maybe a couple of aftershocks in the 7 range," he said.

Blakeman said Chile now can expect to feel "aftershocks of the aftershock."

"It's not a sign of anything different happening. But what does occur when you get these large aftershocks, typically we have a whole series of aftershocks again," Blakeman said.

The temblor rocked buildings and shook windows in the capital, and provoked nervous smiles among dignitaries arriving for the ceremony at the congressional building in coastal Valparaiso. Bolivian President Evo Morales seemed briefly disoriented and Peru's Alan Garcia joked that it gave them "a moment to dance."

Continue Reading...

And seismologists say that although one powerful quake can conceivably make others slightly more likely elsewhere, the string of quakes is probably just coincidence.

Bob Holdsworth, an expert in tectonics at Durham University, said Monday that "I can definitely tell you that the world is not coming to an end."

Continue Reading...

Nothing short of mammoth reconstruction can return Dichato to a semblance of what it was, and survivors here -- and throughout the disaster zone -- said they're hoping President-elect Sebastian Pinera is up to the job.

"Chile is a country on the rise, economically strong, with many businesses. And because of this we expected more" of President Michelle Bachelet's leftist administration, said Amanda Ruiz, a secretary in a construction firm. "We're disillusioned."

"I think he has the ability to do it," said Luis Omar Cid Jara, 66, whose bakery and roast chicken shop on Dichato's main street were destroyed.

Critics said Bachelet initially was reluctant to summon the military to stop looting and deliver aid, given the armed forces' brutal repression of the Chilean left in the past, especially during the 1973-1990 dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet.

Continue Reading...

After the military takeover, and the abuse of human rights on a massive scale that it engendered, Chile retained the curiosity of diverse political and intellectual circles. The tragic example of a shattered democracy provided the spark for heated discussions and controversies in various countries. Chile's sudden shifts in orientation yielded a relentless supply of fascinating political and economic phenomena and fueled the wider debate on development, democracy, and social change.

Continue Reading...

Some residents of Concepcion started running for high ground when an aftershock to Saturday's destructive earthquake was followed just six seconds later by another. The U.S. Geological Survey says Wednesday's temblors had preliminary magnitudes of 5.9 and 6.0, respectively. The 6.0 jolt was the strongest measured since Sunday.

Fire officials used loudspeakers to assure residents that no tsunami was imminent. Concepcion was badly damaged by Saturday's magnitude-8.8 quake.

Continue Reading...

Writing in response to yesterday's post, "The Chicago Boys and the Chilean Earthquake," reader rfkactionfront points us to an op-ed piece in yesterday's New York Times by Sebastian Gray, a professor of architecture at Universidad Catolica de Chile.

Gray observes that "thousands of contemporary mid- to high-rises in Santiago and Concepcion" whose construction dates back to the 1950s or earlier "were able to withstand the quake with only cosmetic damage, if any." He attributes their sturdiness to "the stringent building codes and responsible building practices that have existed here since the devastating earthquakes of 1939 and 1960, which leveled many older structures."

But what about some newer architecture?

Continue Reading...

Thanks largely to him, the country has endured a tragedy that elsewhere would have been an apocalypse.

Stephens' logic is simple. After the U.S.-backed coup in 1973, in which Gen. Pinochet seized power from the democratically elected president Salvador Allende, a group of Chilean economists mentored by Friedman, and known to history as "the Chicago boys," instituted a series of radical free market reforms. Since that point, averaged over the decades, Chile has experienced the strongest sustained economic growth in South America. Rich countries, argues Stephens, are more likely to institute and enforce building codes. Q.E.D. Milton Friedman saved lives.

Continue Reading...

Authorities put the death toll from Saturday's magnitude-8.8 quake at 214, but believed the number would grow. They said 1.5 million Chileans were affected and 500,000 homes severely damaged by the mammoth temblor.

A tsunami caused by the quake that swept across the Pacific killed several people on a Chilean island but caused little damage in other countries, after precautionary evacuations of hundreds of thousands of people. The tsunami warning was lifted a day after the earthquake.

President Michelle Bachelet, who leaves office March 11, declared a "state of catastrophe" in central Chile. "It was a catastrophe of devastating consequences," she said.

Police said more than 100 people died in Concepcion, the largest city near the epicenter with more than 200,000 people. The university was among the buildings that caught fire around the city as gas and power lines snapped. Many streets were littered with rubble from edifices and inmates escaped from a nearby prison.

Continue Reading...

Gov. Linda Lingle says no damage has been reported in any county. Tidal surges were observed Saturday along the coasts but did not roar ashore. She's calling it "a great day now that it's over."

****************

A tsunami triggered by the Chilean earthquake sent a surge of water ashore in Hawaii, California and islands in the South Pacific on Saturday as the waves continued onto Alaska and parts of Asia.

There were no immediate reports of widespread damage, injuries or deaths in the U.S. or in the Pacific islands, but a tsunami that swamped a village on an island off Chile killed at least five people and left 11 missing.

In Hawaii, water began pulling away from shore off Hilo Bay on the Big Island just before noon, exposing reefs and sending dark streaks of muddy, sandy water offshore. Waves later washed over Coconut Island, a small park off Hilo's coast.

The tsunami was causing a series of surges that were about 20 minutes apart, and the waves arrived later and smaller than originally predicted. The highest wave at Hilo measured 5.5 feet (1.7 meters) high, while Maui saw some as high as 2 meters (6.5 feet).

Continue Reading...

The reasons are simple.

Chile is wealthier and infinitely better prepared, with strict building codes, robust emergency response and a long history of handling seismic catastrophes. No living Haitian had experienced a quake at home when the Jan. 12 disaster crumbled their poorly constructed buildings.

And Chile was relatively lucky this time.

Saturday's quake was centered offshore an estimated 21 miles (34 kilometers) underground in a relatively unpopulated area while Haiti's tectonic mayhem struck closer to the surface -- about 8 miles (13 kilometers) -- and right on the edge of Port-au-Prince.

"Earthquakes don't kill -- they don't create damage -- if there's nothing to damage," said Eric Calais, a Purdue University geophysicist studying the Haiti quake.

The U.S. Geological Survey says eight Haitian cities and towns -- including this capital of 3 million -- suffered "violent" to "extreme" shaking in last month's 7-magnitude quake, which Haiti's government estimates killed some 220,000 people and left about 1.2 homeless. Chile's death toll was in the hundreds.

Continue Reading...

It still will be about an hour before officials will be willing to give an all-clear in Hawaii, but there were no immediate reports of major damage around the Pacific rim. just tidal surges that reached up to about seven feet in some island chains.

Gerard Fryer, a geophysist for the tsunami center, defended the decision to urge evacuations of coastal areas, saying "better safe than sorry."

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

HONOLULU (AP) -- A tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Chile swept ashore in Hawaii on Saturday, but the initial waves did not appear to cause significant damage.

The first waves looked more like an extreme fluctuation in the tide than the giant tsunami that Hawaii and the rest of the Pacific Ocean were bracing for after the magnitude-8.8 quake devastated Chile.

The wave began affecting Hilo Bay on the Big Island just before noon local time. Water began pulling away from shore, exposing reefs and sending dark streaks of muddy, sandy water offshore. Water later washed over Coconut Island, a small park off the coast of Hilo.

Continue Reading...

The tsunami began affecting Hilo Bay on the Big Island just before noon local time. Water began pulling away from shore, exposing reefs and sending dark streaks of muddy, sandy water offshore. That is usually an indication of the wave building strength before coming ashore.

The tsunami raced across the Pacific Ocean in terrifying force after the magnitude-8.8 quake hit Chile. Officials in Hawaii had ample time to get people out of the potential disaster area, and thousands were evacuated.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

EWA BEACH, Hawaii (AP) -- A tsunami triggered by the Chilean earthquake raced across the Pacific Ocean on Saturday, threatening Hawaii as it rushed toward the U.S. West Coast and hundreds of islands from the bottom of the planet to the top.

Sirens blared in Hawaii to alert residents to the potential waves. As the waves expected arrival drew near, roads into tourist-heavy Waikiki were closed off. Police patrolled main roads, telling tourists to get off the streets

Continue Reading...

The magnitude-8.8 quake was felt as far away as Sao Paulo in Brazil -- 1,800 miles (2,900 kilometers) to the east. The full extent of damage remained unclear as scores of aftershocks -- one nearly as powerful as Haiti's devastating Jan. 12 earthquake -- shuddered across the disaster-prone Andean nation.

President Michelle Bachelet declared a "state of catastrophe" in central Chile but said the government has not asked for assistance from other countries. If it does, President Barack Obama said, the United States "will be there." Around the world, leaders echoed his sentiment.

In Chile, newly built apartment buildings slumped and fell. Flames devoured a prison. Millions of people fled into streets darkened by the failure of power lines. The collapse of bridges tossed and crushed cars and trucks -- and complicated efforts to reach quake-damaged areas by road.

Continue Reading...

He also warned people in Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa and the West Coast to heed the instructions of local authorities about evacuations and other measures in advance of a tsunami moving across the Pacific Ocean.

"We can't control nature, but we can and must be prepared for disaster when it strikes," he said in a statement at the White House.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami warning -- its highest alert -- for Hawaii. The first waves were expected to arrive in Hawaii late afternoon EST. A lower-grade tsunami advisory was in effect for the coast of California and an Alaskan coastal area.

Before he spoke, Obama had a 20-minute conference call with staff and Cabinet members who updated him on conditions in Chile and on the tsunami. Participants included Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

"The United States stands ready to assist in the rescue and recovery efforts and we have resources that are positioned to deploy should the Chilean government ask for our help," Obama said. Chile's president, Michelle Bachelet, said her government has not asked for assistance from other countries.

Continue Reading...

Sirens blared in Hawaii to alert residents to the potential waves. Nine small planes equipped with loudspeakers flew along the shoreline, warning beachgoers. On several South Pacific islands hit by a tsunami last fall, police evacuated tens of thousands of coastal residents.

The first waves in Hawaii were expected to hit shortly after 11 a.m. Saturday (4 p.m. EST; 2100 GMT) and measure roughly 8 feet (2.5 meters) at Hilo. Most Pacific Rim nations did not immediately order evacuations, but advised people in low-lying areas to be on the lookout.

Unlike other tsunamis in recent years in which residents had little to if any warnings, emergency officials along the Pacific on Saturday had hours to prepare and decide on evacuating residents.

"We've got a lot of things going for us," said Charles McCreery, the director of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, which issues warnings to almost every country around the Pacific Rim and to most of the Pacific island states. "We have a reasonable lead time.

Continue Reading...

Megathrust earthquakes occur in subduction zones where plates of the Earth's crust grind and dive. Saturday's jolt occurred when the Nazca plate dove beneath the South American plate, releasing tremendous energy.

The U.S. Geological Survey says 13 temblors of magnitude-7 or larger have hit coastal Chile since 1973.

The latest quake occurred about 140 miles north of the largest earthquake ever recorded. The magnitude-9.5 struck southern Chile in 1960, killing some 1,600 people and generating a tsunami that killed another 200 people in Japan, Hawaii and the Philippines.

Continue Reading...

She told a news conference Saturday at the state civil defense center inside Diamond Head Crater that the declaration would allow the release of disaster funds. She says the U.S. Pacific Command is standing by to help.

She says authorities are deciding whether to close wastewater pumping stations on Oahu and Maui to prevent damage from seawater.

Lingle says leprosy patients from the Kalaupapa settlement on Molokai have been moved from an isolated area on a peninsula to higher ground. Helicopters are standing by if they need to be shifted elsewhere.

Continue Reading...

A tsunami warning -- the highest alert level -- is in effect for those Pacific Ocean locations after a powerful earthquake struck Chile.

Obama also is encouraging people along the West Coast to be prepared for the possibility of dangerous waves and currents.

The president says the U.S. is ready Chile with rescue and recovery efforts. He says the U.S. has resources that are in position to deploy should the Chilean government ask for U.S. assistance.

Obama spoke at the White House on Saturday afternoon after a conference call with Cabinet officials and White House staff.

Continue Reading...

Continue Reading...