Quake Update — Chile

Dear Friends:

We just got word from Chile from the brothers that so far there is no confirmed news of brothers losing their lives.  We heard from some friends in Chillán (Christian Schmidt) that everything movable in his house fell to the floor.  He had a tsunami in his swimming pool and half of the water spilled out, but the family is fine.  They were without electricity until yesterday (Feb. 28).  There are about 10 families in that city that had damage to their homes.  He said that the tsunami of Pelluhue, Cobquecura and the zone of Concepcion took homes and Kingdom Halls.  They have no confirmation of reports that brothers in Coronel lost lives.  However, some brothers there lost their homes and all their possessions.

A brother from the Branch wrote that the greatest number of dead came from Constitucion, a coastal city that was hit by the tsunami without warning.  Only those who on their own suspected the possibility of a tsunami, and went to higher ground were saved.  In the same area all the adobe houses were destroyed including the hundred year old homes that survived the 1985 7.7 earthquake.  He said that well constructed, newer homes in that area and even in Santiago sustained some damage.  He said that the 8.8 earthquake at the epicenter was 8.3 in Santiago.

The brother confirmed that vandalism and theft have been a serious problem wherever there has been damage.  Supermarkets have been left empty by unscrupulous, greedy individuals who try to benefit from others´ loss.

He reported that on Saturday the Branch sent out trucks to the south with water, food, clothing and mattresses for the brothers.  Other vehicles were sent to the Santiago area to investigate the needs and to take water.  Letters were prepared to be sent to all the congregations of the country to inform them of the best way to help those in need.  Half of the population of Chile is in Santiago.  So those brothers take the lead in helping the affected ones.  The brother says that tons of aid has already been collected.  Committees have been set up in the zones of greatest need and they are making preparations for reconstruction where the brothers need help.  They are receiving the reports of the Circuit Overseers from all over, so they will get the bigger picture soon.

Communication has been a problem since there are still areas without water or electricity.  Therefore the Branch is sending out representatives to get the needed information.  Even this is difficult because roads are blocked and broken and getting gasoline is a problem.

That’s what we know now.  This is a brief translation of the e-mails we´ve received.  We will keep you posted as well as we can.  We send our love to all of you.

Your Chile Reporter,

Ruthie T.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 1st, 2010 at 4:16 pm and is filed under Chile, General, Letters. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.