5 ms·

8.8-magnitude quake hits Chile

101 points by paulgerhardt 17y ago

_delirium 17y ago
Hmm, it seems that fortunately the damage, while significant, isn't as catastrophic as one might expect from an earthquake of that magnitude (7th-largest on record, if the 8.8 is confirmed). I don't understand these things too well, but besides Chile's relatively good infrastructure quality, it looks like the depth of the event, and the kind of ground/soil in the region, had something to do with it. For example, even though this was much stronger than the Haiti earthquake (8.8 v. 7.0), the Mercalli intensities are much lower: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/pager/events/us/2010tfan/index.html http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/pager/events/us/2010t... v. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/pager/events/us/2010rja6/index.html http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/pager/events/us/2010r...
- andrewcooke 17y ago
  Yeah, this is nothing like Haiti, thankfully. It was deeper, further away from major population, and the building codes here are taken seriously (I think you're also right about soil being a problem in Haiti, but I don't know much about that). In a sense, it's a relief - even if it's the gambler's fallacy - it feels like "ok, that didn't kill us, so we're OK for another few decades" (no disrespect to the people in Concepcion, who have had it much worse - the news is still coming out; when we went back to bed we didn't know it was anything like as bad there as it is now appearing).
  - ErrantX 17y ago
    If I remember my school geography correctly the type of soil, bed rock and water table massively effects the impact of an earthquake.
    - electromagnetic 17y ago
      It does, certain mixes give properties like a shock absorber, which is the case I'm guessing with Chile. Haiti unfortunately is an island, and most islands by nature are volcanic which usually not only means the bedrock is usually closer to the surface but that it is a much more rigid material.
  - klenwell 17y ago
    Bless the building codes. Just read this article a couple days ago in the NY Times: "Disaster Awaits Cities in Earthquake Zones" http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/25/science/earth/25quake.html?pagewanted=all http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/25/science/earth/25quake.html... Hate to think what would have happened (or will happen) if a quake like this hit Istanbul.
pelle 17y ago
Live stream from TV Chile http://www.ustream.tv/channel/tv-de-chile http://www.ustream.tv/channel/tv-de-chile
andrewcooke 17y ago
We live in Santiago and woke at about 3.30am to mild shaking that was growing stronger, so we got out of bed and went to the centre of our flat, where the building is strongest. The shaking was pretty violent, and seemed to go on for a long time (I imagine it feels longer than it is, but I would say at least 30 seconds). The power went out at some point. When the shaking stopped we found a torch and looked around - books and decorations had fallen down (luckily a large pot of jam had fallen over, but stayed on the kitchen table top). In every room there are cracks in the plaster and flakes on the floor - the corner of the kitchen looks like it may have more serious damage, with a vertical crack where two walls join. People were going outside, but it wasn't clear to us it was safer (there are many electrical cables in the streets, and we live in a lovely avenue with many old elms - unfortunately they have a habit of dropping branches on people in winds, and at the time we weren't sure how they would be affected, although in retrospect I guess a strong wind is worse than an earthquake for a tree). But from our window we could see one neighbour, with children, drive away - presumably to a relative's house. We found a radio with batteries, found a station that was broadcasting news, and listened for a while. Some people's phones were still working, as they were calling in, and the general impression was that it wasn't so bad; this morning the news is worse, and I hope the people we know in Concepcion are OK. Eventually we went back to sleep - there were aftershocks that normally would have been pretty worrying, but that now felt like nothing worth bothering with. It will be interesting to see how the big, new buildings (often covered in glass) have survived. Just a little way east of here they are constructing what will be the tallest building in South America (the Costanera Centre)...
- andrewcooke 17y ago
  While we have power here, it seems much of the city does not (we've just been out trying to buy food). Many road junctions near us (Providencia, La Reina, Las Condes) are without lights; some bigger buildings have backup generators running. If anyone is reading this from Chile and is looking for bread, I've got details here - http://www.acooke.org/cute/Earthquake0.html#Sat27Feb20101346300300 http://www.acooke.org/cute/Earthquake0.html#Sat27Feb20101346...
  - algorias 17y ago
rbanffy 17y ago
As a HN-worthy note, my wife told me about this before I turned on my computer. She learned about it on Twitter.
- joezydeco 17y ago
  When we had that 3-4 quake outside Chicago earlier this month, my wife was convinced a tree had fallen against the house or something. USGS Shakemap had no data yet. On a hunch I searched twitter and saw over 200 "OMG WHAT WAS THAT?" messages. Confirmed the quake before anything else.
  - rbanffy 17y ago
    I keep saying, only half-jokingly, Twitter is turning us into nodes of a global collective mind. When she said that she became aware of the quake, I questioned what did she mean with "she".
    - joezydeco 17y ago
      I half-joke about it as well. It's a little scary, little exciting that something like this is even possible now.
    - tvon 17y ago
      If only the collective mind could communicate with more than 140 characters at a time...
      - rbanffy 17y ago
        I doubt organic brains can rely on that many bits when firing their neurons.
        tvon 17y ago
        Well, sure, but then a real collective mind wouldn't use twitter.
dmoney 17y ago
non-mobile version: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61Q0S920100227 http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61Q0S920100227
algorias 17y ago
I was with my brother and we had just arrived at his home when the quake struck. I have to say it felt much more violent than it actually was. The damages seem to be surprisingly fewfor a quake of this magnitude. I ended up going home at about 5 am as I wasn't able to get through on the phone. Luckily, there were several folks who gave me rides that got me a lot closer, so I didn't have to walk far. The whole city was dark, but I didn't see major signs of damages along the way.
callmeed 17y ago
People on Twitter are reporting tsunami warnings in Hawaii. Can anyone there give an update?
- ojbyrne 17y ago
  http://www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/messages/hawaii/2010/hawaii.2010.02.27.175330.txt http://www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/messages/hawaii/2010/hawaii.201...
- dspeyer 17y ago
  The general warning: http://www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/messages/pacific/2010/pacific.2010.02.27.104329.txt http://www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/messages/pacific/2010/pacific.2... The main page: http://www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/ http://www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/ At 19:18Z it's predicted to hit New Zealand. That'll be the first word of how dangerous it is at range. About 2 hours later it'll hit Australia and Hawaii. It'll slowly sweep oceana and asia south-to-north after that.
whyenot 17y ago
The Boston Globe's Big Picture has a good colleciton of photos from the disaster area. http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/02/earthquake_in_chile.html?camp=localsearch:on:twit:bigpic http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/02/earthquake_in_chile...
yannis 17y ago
For anyone looking for missing persons http://chilepersonfinder.appspot.com/?lang=en http://chilepersonfinder.appspot.com/?lang=en
- nir 17y ago
  Very cool. Great use of GAE's quick deployment/scalability. I assume this is based on a general purpose people finder app?
  - dspeyer 17y ago
    It's cloned from the http://haiticrisis.appspot.com/ http://haiticrisis.appspot.com/. That one was written from scratch in a couple of days after the haiti quake.
- Clarina 17y ago
  Señorita Blanca Alarcon Orellana necesito informacion de esta personas y su familia ella es de PELLUHUE, del sector de LOVELBAN.De parte de Sor Juana Romero Recabal. Mi correo electrónico es (clarinamolina@hotmail.com)

101 points by paulgerhardt 17y ago

Hmm, it seems that fortunately the damage, while significant, isn't as catastrophic as one might expect from an earthquake of that magnitude (7th-largest on record, if the 8.8 is confirmed). I don't understand these things too well, but besides Chile's relatively good infrastructure quality, it looks like the depth of the event, and the kind of ground/soil in the region, had something to do with it. For example, even though this was much stronger than the Haiti earthquake (8.8 v. 7.0), the Mercalli intensities are much lower: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/pager/events/us/2010tfan/index.html http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/pager/events/us/2010t... v. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/pager/events/us/2010rja6/index.html http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/pager/events/us/2010r...

andrewcooke 17y ago
Yeah, this is nothing like Haiti, thankfully. It was deeper, further away from major population, and the building codes here are taken seriously (I think you're also right about soil being a problem in Haiti, but I don't know much about that). In a sense, it's a relief - even if it's the gambler's fallacy - it feels like "ok, that didn't kill us, so we're OK for another few decades" (no disrespect to the people in Concepcion, who have had it much worse - the news is still coming out; when we went back to bed we didn't know it was anything like as bad there as it is now appearing).
- ErrantX 17y ago
  If I remember my school geography correctly the type of soil, bed rock and water table massively effects the impact of an earthquake.
  - electromagnetic 17y ago
    It does, certain mixes give properties like a shock absorber, which is the case I'm guessing with Chile. Haiti unfortunately is an island, and most islands by nature are volcanic which usually not only means the bedrock is usually closer to the surface but that it is a much more rigid material.
- klenwell 17y ago
  Bless the building codes. Just read this article a couple days ago in the NY Times: "Disaster Awaits Cities in Earthquake Zones" http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/25/science/earth/25quake.html?pagewanted=all http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/25/science/earth/25quake.html... Hate to think what would have happened (or will happen) if a quake like this hit Istanbul.

pelle 17y ago

Live stream from TV Chile http://www.ustream.tv/channel/tv-de-chile http://www.ustream.tv/channel/tv-de-chile

andrewcooke 17y ago

We live in Santiago and woke at about 3.30am to mild shaking that was growing stronger, so we got out of bed and went to the centre of our flat, where the building is strongest. The shaking was pretty violent, and seemed to go on for a long time (I imagine it feels longer than it is, but I would say at least 30 seconds). The power went out at some point. When the shaking stopped we found a torch and looked around - books and decorations had fallen down (luckily a large pot of jam had fallen over, but stayed on the kitchen table top). In every room there are cracks in the plaster and flakes on the floor - the corner of the kitchen looks like it may have more serious damage, with a vertical crack where two walls join. People were going outside, but it wasn't clear to us it was safer (there are many electrical cables in the streets, and we live in a lovely avenue with many old elms - unfortunately they have a habit of dropping branches on people in winds, and at the time we weren't sure how they would be affected, although in retrospect I guess a strong wind is worse than an earthquake for a tree). But from our window we could see one neighbour, with children, drive away - presumably to a relative's house. We found a radio with batteries, found a station that was broadcasting news, and listened for a while. Some people's phones were still working, as they were calling in, and the general impression was that it wasn't so bad; this morning the news is worse, and I hope the people we know in Concepcion are OK. Eventually we went back to sleep - there were aftershocks that normally would have been pretty worrying, but that now felt like nothing worth bothering with. It will be interesting to see how the big, new buildings (often covered in glass) have survived. Just a little way east of here they are constructing what will be the tallest building in South America (the Costanera Centre)...

andrewcooke 17y ago
While we have power here, it seems much of the city does not (we've just been out trying to buy food). Many road junctions near us (Providencia, La Reina, Las Condes) are without lights; some bigger buildings have backup generators running. If anyone is reading this from Chile and is looking for bread, I've got details here - http://www.acooke.org/cute/Earthquake0.html#Sat27Feb20101346300300 http://www.acooke.org/cute/Earthquake0.html#Sat27Feb20101346...
- algorias 17y ago

rbanffy 17y ago

As a HN-worthy note, my wife told me about this before I turned on my computer. She learned about it on Twitter.

joezydeco 17y ago
When we had that 3-4 quake outside Chicago earlier this month, my wife was convinced a tree had fallen against the house or something. USGS Shakemap had no data yet. On a hunch I searched twitter and saw over 200 "OMG WHAT WAS THAT?" messages. Confirmed the quake before anything else.
- rbanffy 17y ago
  I keep saying, only half-jokingly, Twitter is turning us into nodes of a global collective mind. When she said that she became aware of the quake, I questioned what did she mean with "she".
  - joezydeco 17y ago
    I half-joke about it as well. It's a little scary, little exciting that something like this is even possible now.
  - tvon 17y ago
    If only the collective mind could communicate with more than 140 characters at a time...
    - rbanffy 17y ago
      I doubt organic brains can rely on that many bits when firing their neurons.
      - tvon 17y ago
        Well, sure, but then a real collective mind wouldn't use twitter.

dmoney 17y ago

non-mobile version: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61Q0S920100227 http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61Q0S920100227

algorias 17y ago

I was with my brother and we had just arrived at his home when the quake struck. I have to say it felt much more violent than it actually was. The damages seem to be surprisingly fewfor a quake of this magnitude. I ended up going home at about 5 am as I wasn't able to get through on the phone. Luckily, there were several folks who gave me rides that got me a lot closer, so I didn't have to walk far. The whole city was dark, but I didn't see major signs of damages along the way.

callmeed 17y ago

People on Twitter are reporting tsunami warnings in Hawaii. Can anyone there give an update?

ojbyrne 17y ago
http://www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/messages/hawaii/2010/hawaii.2010.02.27.175330.txt http://www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/messages/hawaii/2010/hawaii.201...
dspeyer 17y ago
The general warning: http://www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/messages/pacific/2010/pacific.2010.02.27.104329.txt http://www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/messages/pacific/2010/pacific.2... The main page: http://www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/ http://www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/ At 19:18Z it's predicted to hit New Zealand. That'll be the first word of how dangerous it is at range. About 2 hours later it'll hit Australia and Hawaii. It'll slowly sweep oceana and asia south-to-north after that.

whyenot 17y ago

The Boston Globe's Big Picture has a good colleciton of photos from the disaster area. http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/02/earthquake_in_chile.html?camp=localsearch:on:twit:bigpic http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/02/earthquake_in_chile...

yannis 17y ago

For anyone looking for missing persons http://chilepersonfinder.appspot.com/?lang=en http://chilepersonfinder.appspot.com/?lang=en

nir 17y ago
Very cool. Great use of GAE's quick deployment/scalability. I assume this is based on a general purpose people finder app?
- dspeyer 17y ago
  It's cloned from the http://haiticrisis.appspot.com/ http://haiticrisis.appspot.com/. That one was written from scratch in a couple of days after the haiti quake.
Clarina 17y ago
Señorita Blanca Alarcon Orellana necesito informacion de esta personas y su familia ella es de PELLUHUE, del sector de LOVELBAN.De parte de Sor Juana Romero Recabal. Mi correo electrónico es (clarinamolina@hotmail.com)