8.8 earthquake hits Chile

[Syt]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8540289.stm

Massive earthquake strikes Chile 
 
A massive earthquake with an initial magnitude of 8.8 has struck central Chile.

The quake struck at 0634 GMT about 91km (56 miles) north-east of the city of Concepcion and 317km south-west of the capital, Santiago.

Outgoing President Michelle Bachelet said that she had reports of six deaths so far and could not rule out that there might be more.

The US issued an initial tsunami warning for Chile, Peru and Ecuador.

That was later extended to Colombia, Antarctica, Panama and Costa Rica.

Japan's meteorological agency has warned of a potential tsunami across large areas of the Pacific.

President Bachelet called on people to remain calm and contact the authorities if they needed help.

Ms Bachelet, who has now gone into an emergency meeting, said that there were areas of the country where communications were down and teams were working to restore them.

Buildings in Santiago were reported to have shaken for between 10 and 30 seconds, with the loss of electricity and communications.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the earthquake struck at a depth of about 35km.

It said tsunami effects had been observed at Valparaiso, west of Santiago, with a wave height of 1.29m above normal sea level.

One journalist speaking to Chilean national television from the city of Temuco, 600km south of Santiago, said many people there had left their homes, determined to spend the rest of the night outside. Some people on the streets were in tears.

Mark Winstanley, who contacted the BBC from Vina del Mar, 100km north-west of Santiago, said buildings had shaken and electricity and phone connections were cut but he could see no structural damage yet.

A university professor in Santiago, Cristian Bonacic, said that this was a massive quake but that the cities seemed to have resisted well. Internet communications were working but not mobile phones.

Chile suffered the biggest earthquake of the 20th century when a 9.5 magnitude quake struck the city of Valdivia in 1960, killing 1,655 people.

Would Pinochet or Allende have been able to prevent this? What's the role of the CIA in this turn of events?

[Brazen]

Ah crap, that's even stronger than Haiti Hopefully as it's not so poor a country they will have better infrastructure and less deaths.

[Martinus]

Some people on the streets were in tears.

What a retarded line in the report. Some people on the streets were in tears after walking out of a fucking "Titanic" movie. Stupid emotional journalism devoid of information content.

[Brazen]

What a retarded line in the report. Some people on the streets were in tears after walking out of a fucking "Titanic" movie. Stupid emotional journalism devoid of information content.

It's called "colour", doughnut. By quoting what the Chilean journalist reported, it gives readers a mental picture of the situation on the ground and the impact to locals of losing their homes and livelihoods.

Or are you in the Berlusconi camp and think they should treat it as a camping holiday?

[jimmy olsen]

It doesn't seem to have been near any major population centers so hopefully there weren't many casualties.

[The Brain]

It doesn't seem to have been near any major population centers

raciss

[Jaron]

Some people on the streets were in tears.

What a retarded line in the report. Some people on the streets were in tears after walking out of a fucking "Titanic" movie. Stupid emotional journalism devoid of information content.

[citizen k]

Some people on the streets were in tears.

What a retarded line in the report. Some people on the streets were in tears after walking out of a fucking "Titanic" movie. Stupid emotional journalism devoid of information content.

Just the facts, ma'am.

[CountDeMoney]

Some people on the streets were in tears.

What a retarded line in the report. Some people on the streets were in tears after walking out of a fucking "Titanic" movie. Stupid emotional journalism devoid of information content.

If they were crying because their local GLBT book store collapsed, you wouldn't have said shit.  So fuck off.

[grumbler]

Some people on the streets were in tears.

What a retarded line in the report. Some people on the streets were in tears after walking out of a fucking "Titanic" movie. Stupid emotional journalism devoid of information content.

If they were crying because their local GLBT book store collapsed, you wouldn't have said shit.  So fuck off.

Is it just my perception, or has Marti recently doubled the percentage of his posts in which he says incredibly stupid things?

[Ed Anger]

Some people on the streets were in tears.

What a retarded line in the report. Some people on the streets were in tears after walking out of a fucking "Titanic" movie. Stupid emotional journalism devoid of information content.

If they were crying because their local GLBT book store collapsed, you wouldn't have said shit.  So fuck off.

Is it just my perception, or has Marti recently doubled the percentage of his posts in which he says incredibly stupid things?

He's gotten stupider. He'll claim he is trolling however.

[Maximus]

Is it just my perception, or has Marti recently doubled the percentage of his posts in which he says incredibly stupid things?

I was thinking the same thing just yesterday. He's getting more and more incoherent with age.

[CountDeMoney]

He's getting more and more incoherent with age.

It's the cock in his mouth.

[Ed Anger]

feltching causes brain damage.

[CountDeMoney]

Scores confirmed dead.

Sorry, Chile.  We shot our wad with Haiti.  Might be some leftovers up there.