Global General
Aftershocks feared after quake kills 400 in Chile
By Mario Naranjo (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-03-01 10:00
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Tsunami warnings lifted across Pacific
CONCEPCION, Chile: Chileans fearful of aftershocks camped outside on Sunday in towns shattered by a massive earthquake, as officials struggled to grasp the scale of damage to transport, energy and housing infrastructure.
One of the world's most powerful earthquakes in a century hammered Chile early on Saturday, killing more than 400 people as it toppled buildings and triggered a tsunami that surged across the Pacific to as far as Japan and Russia.
Tsunami waves killed at least four people on Chile's Juan Fernandez islands and caused serious damage to the port town of Talcahuano.
On the other side of the Pacific, Japan's northeastern coast registered waves of up to 4 feet (1.2 meters) and officials feared bigger ones could be coming.
Hundreds of thousands of people in Japan, New Zealand, the Philippines and Russia's far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula were told to evacuate after the quake but there were no immediate reports of damage.
Two million people in Chile have been affected by the earthquake, said President Michelle Bachelet, adding that it would take officials several days to evaluate the "enormous quantity of damage."
The earthquake has raised a daunting first challenge for billionaire Sebastian Pinera, who was elected Chile's president in January in a shift to the political right and who takes office in two weeks.
Daunting task ahead
"It's going to be a very big task and we're going to need resources," Pinera said late on Saturday.
Some economists predicted a deep impact on Chile's economy after the quake damaged its industrial and agricultural sectors in the worst-hit regions, possibly putting pressure on its currency.
Government officials said the copper industry had enough stocks to meet its commitments despite a production shutdown at two major mines due to the quake. Diesel imports were stepped up after damage forced the closure of two oil refineries.
But the government faces the task of helping Chileans rebuild an estimated half a million homes that were severely damaged as well as hundreds of buckled roads and collapsed bridges.
"It was like the end of the world," said Vicente Acuna, 76, in the southern town of Talca.
In Concepcion, a city of 670,000 people 115 km (70 miles) southwest of the quake's epicenter, hundreds of people spent the night in tents and make-shift shelters.
The city's old houses made of adobe appeared to have borne the brunt of the damage, but a 15-storey apartment block also collapsed, likely killing or trapping many people inside.
City streets were strewn with crushed cars, fallen power lines and rubble from fallen buildings. Police patrols were stepped up to deter looters.
Mauri Arancibia, 23, said she was relieved to learn her aunt emerged unscathed after her adobe house collapsed on her. But she said she was shaken by the scenes of destruction in Concepcion.
"I'm really worried, I don't know what to do," she said.
