The devastating 8.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Chile early Saturday morning and touched off tsunamis has trapped a Squamish couple in the capital city of Santiago.
Frank Baumann is in Chile working on a geothermal exploration project and his wife, a local schoolteacher, was visiting during the Olympic break when the shaking began at around 3:30 a.m.
Very shortly afterwards, he emailed his friend and co-worker on the project John Howe, who had just returned to Squamish from Santiago a week earlier.
"Frank and Nadine were in Santiago on Friday night [Feb. 26] and sent this email to me at 10:52 Squamish time, just 15 minutes after the shaking stopped: 'Just went through an amazing earthquake here in the Bustos home in Santiago. Lasted 40 seconds. Everyone's OK. Frank and Nadine.'"
Reports today stated limited airport operations have resumed, but it's unclear how long it will take before travel schedules will be back to normal as numerous airliners have cancelled their flights to Chile, according to news reports.
Baumann reported on the damage in Santiago the next morning and sent photos, said Howe.
"Not withstanding the Santiago International Airport, most of Santiago got through this without widespread infrastructure damage," said Howe. "For the most part Frank says that much of the damage he saw was limited to the older buildings built before modern earthquake standards."
But further south, near the quake's epicenter, the impact was much more devastating. Current reports confirm 708 dead, caused in part by tsunamis hitting coastal towns Pelluhue and Constitucion alone reported 350 deaths from the quake's aftermath.
Dozens of aftershocks also followed the quake for more than 12 hours, according to reports, forcing residents to set up makeshift sleeping accommodations on streets for fear of being crushed by a collapsing building.
The quake wrecked hundreds of thousands of homes and heavily damaged the main highway running north and south, which links much of the country, as numerous bridges collapsed. The government is said to be overwhelmed by the toll it's caused, and there are vast regions of the country still unexplored where, it's feared, many more dead and injured will be found.
According to reports from Concepcion, the city closest to the epicentre, there were ugly scenes, with scores of people breaking into supermarkets for water and food.
President Michelle Bachelet has spoken to the nation and confirmed that two million people an eighth of the population have been affected by the quake which, with a magnitude of 8.8, was one of the strongest recorded. She called for calm as reports of looting surfaced.
"[The quake] will have a devastating impact on the country for a very long time," said Howe.
