Three minutes of that kind of shaking has to feel like forever. To see so much destruction has to feel like the end of the world. Thousands of people are living outside, in tents, with no water or other essentials. Looting is massive right now and police are finding themselves protecting stores that have already been picked clean. Rescue efforts are being slowed by the fact that the police have to fend off the looters.
The death toll is climbing to horrific numbers....to 300 people from the earthquake with more unknown casualties from the tsunami. Previously I had reported that the tsunami had claimed in excess of 500 lives...I can no longer find the source article and so, retract that claim. Nonetheless....The number of people who simply don't know the status of their loved ones is heartbreaking to think about.
The nation is shattered but not broken. I know she can recover but she has lost alot. If you are inclined...send you prayers, thoughts, positive energy...whatever you have in you. Chile needs all the help she can get right now. If anyone knows of any good links to relief organizations then please post them in the comments below ...or if I come accross it I will update this post later on. Goodnight everyone.
Bryan
This is terrible, but thankfully Chile is in a MUCH MUCH MUCH better state to deal with this kind of disaster compared to Haiti. I know what being in a long, intense quake feels like (we had a 7.7 here in Peru two years ago), my heart goes out to everyone there.
ReplyDelete-Matt
One thing though: where did you get the info about the tsunami? From what I've heard the largest "tsunami" was only 2 meters tall and I haven't heard anything about whole towns being wiped out or anything.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, I got woken up by my father on Saturday. He was in his usual doom and gloom mood. Talking about the world ending in 2012, Nostradamus, The Bible, etc. with all the end times prophecies.
ReplyDeleteAdd the earthquakes and the volcano eruptions and any end timer who has read Revelations thing the end is neigh.
I told him I'd call him on January 1st, 2013 to be safe. And that the earth wasn't due to end for at least another few billion years (7 billion to be precise, that's when the sun goes red giant!)
But alas, the Milky Way will merge with the Andromeda galaxy in a couple billion years so it may come sooner.
@matt
ReplyDeletewell dammit I cannot find the link to the story that painted such a dire picture. that same story was talking about an american tourist who was staying in a hotel. she was a "structural designer" and said she could see significant damage to several levals yet the hotel didn't evacuate its guests and even get the elevator to continue to run.
that same article is where I got the information I used here and it seems to have dried up so perhaps it was incorrect itself. I can only find information indicating much material destruction but a much smaller death toll (3 people) from the tsunami.
my apologies for not siting my source...next time I wont be so sloppy....but things inland are still everybit as bad as I indicated...that information I found at the huffington post and was easy to find again.
Bryan I am going to tell you off now!
ReplyDeleteThe first sentence of this post it a bit insulting. As though atheists are incapable of feeling bad for people in an earthquake :D
@Depfox
ReplyDeleteActually you were right, I just read in the newspaper that several hundred people might have died due to a tsunami that devastated a town. :(
-Matt
Its not my intention to insult anyone Goblin. I just wanted to draw attention to people who really need some help. not insult my readers. It can be really difficult at times to find terminology that will fit everyone.
ReplyDeleteYeah I know, maybe I sounded a bit harsh. I wasn't actually insulted, I was just doing a righteous indignation turn.
ReplyDeleteIt is just horrible. When things like this occur you always wonder..gee..what would I do in this situation? What would happen if lets say Cleveland got hit with an earthquake? How would I cope? How are my family and friends..are they okay?
ReplyDeleteI wonder how long it will be until the evangelical Pat Robertson blames it on the "homosexuals?" Yes..God is angry at an unraveling society that is being unraveled by gay people!!! (He actually said something like this when hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans-yep..God was angry at all of the gay circuit parties in the city-he decided to show his "displeasure." Could there be a more un-Christian person on this planet?