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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 build

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
  Thanks for that link! I might need it.
andrewcooke 17y ago
This is kind-of interesting - I've been looking at the damage in the plaster, and we might have been close to losing an outer, but not load-bearing wall. The building we live in appears to have a "frame" that you can make out by noticing thicker areas in walls; and a central "core". Most of the rest is not load-bearing. So walls are, in a sense, like sheets that join to the frame top and bottom. In the kitchen we have a wall with a thin slit-like window across almost all of the top, and which ends at a corner. I'm not explaining this very well, but perhaps you understand that this wall is only connected to the structural frame at the bottom (the windows at the top separate it from the upper frame). Anyway, it appears to have moved significantly - there are large cracks at either end. :o( [edit] Bloody hell - and from outside there are major cracks.... Same on each floor. Although - not sure if this is good news or not - it appears from old repairs (that I had not noticed before...) that the same thing had happened in the 1985 quake (the building is from the 60s).
pinstriped_dude 17y ago
torch = flashlight (for American readers)
- andrewcooke 17y ago
  flat = apartment; jam = jelly; elms = maples (i think)
  - nitrogen 17y ago
    Though it's entirely trivial by comparison to your earthquake, for the curious, jam and jelly are used to refer to two very similar but slightly different things in at least some American dialects. Thanks for commenting, and good luck with repairs and rebuilding.
  - JimmyL 17y ago
    Unless you use the word to describe a different type of tree than the standard Ulmus minor elm, elms = elms.
    - andrewcooke 17y ago
      I messed up. I meant[1] sycamores, and they do seem to be a kind of maple. Whether they actually are sycamores, or some other kind of maple, I have no idea. [1] More exactly, I had got the leaves/names mismatched, which is why I was pretty sure it was a maple (because of the Canadian flag). If that makes sense...! [edit: OK, they're not sycamores either, because the seeds are different. Still trying to work our what they really are.... later: I don't have a clue. I'm not even sure they're maples, because the seeds are this kind of yellow/green dust, not samaras. Sorry!] [even later, OK, they're called "Platano Oriental" (eastern banana?!). http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platanus_orientalis http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platanus_orientalis - translated in the english page as "Oriental Plane", from the Platanaceae family. So not maples at all. And here's a photo that appears to be just outside where we live, to give a picture of Chile that is significantly different from what is on the TV right now http://www.fotolog.com/mis_rincones/41894088 http://www.fotolog.com/mis_rincones/41894088 (as I write this, what feels like a V aftershock rocks the building)] [And el Mercurio - local 'posh' paper - now have photos up. Probably the best collection of photos of the quake, if anyone is still curious - http://www.fotos.emol.com/?G_ID=13635 http://www.fotos.emol.com/?G_ID=13635 ]

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
Thanks for that link! I might need it.

andrewcooke 17y ago

This is kind-of interesting - I've been looking at the damage in the plaster, and we might have been close to losing an outer, but not load-bearing wall. The building we live in appears to have a "frame" that you can make out by noticing thicker areas in walls; and a central "core". Most of the rest is not load-bearing. So walls are, in a sense, like sheets that join to the frame top and bottom. In the kitchen we have a wall with a thin slit-like window across almost all of the top, and which ends at a corner. I'm not explaining this very well, but perhaps you understand that this wall is only connected to the structural frame at the bottom (the windows at the top separate it from the upper frame). Anyway, it appears to have moved significantly - there are large cracks at either end. :o( [edit] Bloody hell - and from outside there are major cracks.... Same on each floor. Although - not sure if this is good news or not - it appears from old repairs (that I had not noticed before...) that the same thing had happened in the 1985 quake (the building is from the 60s).

pinstriped_dude 17y ago

torch = flashlight (for American readers)

andrewcooke 17y ago
flat = apartment; jam = jelly; elms = maples (i think)
- nitrogen 17y ago
  Though it's entirely trivial by comparison to your earthquake, for the curious, jam and jelly are used to refer to two very similar but slightly different things in at least some American dialects. Thanks for commenting, and good luck with repairs and rebuilding.
- JimmyL 17y ago
  Unless you use the word to describe a different type of tree than the standard Ulmus minor elm, elms = elms.
  - andrewcooke 17y ago
    I messed up. I meant[1] sycamores, and they do seem to be a kind of maple. Whether they actually are sycamores, or some other kind of maple, I have no idea. [1] More exactly, I had got the leaves/names mismatched, which is why I was pretty sure it was a maple (because of the Canadian flag). If that makes sense...! [edit: OK, they're not sycamores either, because the seeds are different. Still trying to work our what they really are.... later: I don't have a clue. I'm not even sure they're maples, because the seeds are this kind of yellow/green dust, not samaras. Sorry!] [even later, OK, they're called "Platano Oriental" (eastern banana?!). http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platanus_orientalis http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platanus_orientalis - translated in the english page as "Oriental Plane", from the Platanaceae family. So not maples at all. And here's a photo that appears to be just outside where we live, to give a picture of Chile that is significantly different from what is on the TV right now http://www.fotolog.com/mis_rincones/41894088 http://www.fotolog.com/mis_rincones/41894088 (as I write this, what feels like a V aftershock rocks the building)] [And el Mercurio - local 'posh' paper - now have photos up. Probably the best collection of photos of the quake, if anyone is still curious - http://www.fotos.emol.com/?G_ID=13635 http://www.fotos.emol.com/?G_ID=13635 ]