From The New Times:
A deadly 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck central Chile early Saturday, collapsing buildings, shattering major bridges and highways across a long strip of the country, and sending tsunami warnings along the entire Pacific basin.
The director of the National Emergency Agency, Carmen Fernández, said that 147 people died so far, according to local news reports. The death toll was expected to rise, particularly around Concepción, Chile’s second-largest metropolitan area, which is roughly 70 miles from the quake’s center.
There, cars were overturned, rubble fell into the cracked streets and a 15-story building collapsed, news agencies and the Chilean news media reported. In Santiago, the capital, which is about five hours to the north and about 200 miles from the epicenter, frightened residents felt the city shake for nearly 90 seconds. Car alarms pierced the air during the night and early morning hours.
But while there were long lines at supermarkets and gas stations, the capital city, according to residents there, was mostly calm by the late afternoon Saturday. That was a far different picture from the devastation that rocked Concepción, five hours away. More than two dozen significant aftershocks struck the country and President Michelle Bachelet declared a “state of catastrophe.” She said later in the day that officials were not yet able to determine the full extent of the damage.
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Via New York Times
Via Memeorandum
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