Huge quake in Chile

8.8M earthquae hit Chile last night.

Any HoPers affected? We have a tsunami advisory here in CA, although they just say to stay off the beaches today.

Thoughts and hopes to all who are affected.

I'e been disappointed in the lack of information about the tsunami warning in Vanuatu...makes me stress! Especially when I've not had much luck contacting my village lately!

communication might be difficult - which doesn't mean anything major happened there...

soooooooo...........


anyone donating?


heh heh heh

It's all good and wonderful cos I had a chat with my Ni-Van mum and dad tonight

They were both stoned (especially Dad) so it was a pretty funny call!

But they're all good, as I trusted that they would be once everything passed. The media ignores those poor little countries when it comes to warning time, but I'm sure that if something drastic actually happened then I would have heard about it. [insert Haiti reference here ]

according to NASA the quake has changed the axis of earth by a few cm's and thus shortened the day hours (as did the "tsunami-quake" in 2004) - not measurably, only by calculation

but on a more serious note, the people are not getting supplies fast enough...

All in all, the outcome of this quake was a blessing of fortune. A few hundred dead, while never a good thing, is pretty remarkable for one of the most powerful quakes in recorded history. Had this same quake happened at a shallower depth right under Santiago, the outcome would have been very different.

The tsunamis were underwhelming. They were no more than 30cm, hardly bigger than a regular wave. An 8.8 earthquake releases a *huge* amount of energy (well, enough to change the axis of the earth by a bit). We really dodged a big bullet here.

Yes, supplies could get there faster. A lot of people lost their homes and businesses. Many lost their lives. But when compared the the complete devastation of Haiti, this was pretty good by comparison.

and another one in Taiwan yesterday 6. something on the richter scale, the Earth (or the news)has gone quake crazy.

yea - seems to be a trend. Meanwhile Chile is getting aftershocks up to 6.1