Terremoto en Chile, esperemos que todos los amigos esten bien ¡¡updated!!
Terremoto en Chile con más de 50 muertos
Una sacudida tremenda. Espero que nuestros amigos y sus familieres esten bien. 
Update by zenejero on the terrible quake:
right now i am here. last night at 3:41 am there was a 9.1 earthquake in chile. the epicenter was not in the place where i am, but rather some 50 miles south. the whole middle of the country... i am in the middle though.
many places collapsed; the water and electricity and gas are shut down in different areas, and i just got electricity back in the place where i am. i also have water.
the news are not that bad but not that good either... and it's hard waiting for news as landlines are mostly dead and cell phones are dead too... so far i've heard of some friends deaths, and some friend's relatives. my direct family is ok but badly shaken, and my oldest brother was in the city where it hit the hardest (in the city where i am it hit as hard as 6.9/7.0)
if anyone hears anything please know that there are (so far) not so many deaths, and that things are sort of stable... the aftershocks or 'replicas' of the earthquake are as hard as 6.2 right now, and they come in waves every 45 minutes or so... it's hard, but we'll make it.
hope everyone is safe and sound!
**Latest update by our friend blackbull from Chile**
Han sido momentos difíciles. Hasta un par de horas atrás, el conteo de fallecidos era de 708 personas y un número no calcualdo de desaparecidos. Los rescatistas esperan encontrar más cuerpos bajo los escombros de ciudades como Concepción, Constitución, y otras ciudades costeras. Se nos informa que entre las regiones 6ª y 9ª hubo Tsunamis. El maremoto fue muy fuerte en la 8ª región (Concepción), localización del epicentro del seísmo. Fue en las costas de esta regíon donde se cuenta el mayor número de fallecidos y desaparecidos, ya que el mar se tragó las ciudades y pueblos costeros.
Las réplicas han sido bastante fuertes. Hasta el momento, en el sector de Santiago donde me encuentro, no hubo ningún derrumbe, tenemos agua y electricidad; aunque hay anunciado un corte del suministro para las próximas horas.
48 Answers
update:
it's 10:01 pm and the power just came back in my house... we've had water all day long, which is always a great thing to have, but the phones were down and the cellphones were absolutely dead.
as i was saying before, the death count as of 9pm is 280, but they don't know for sure as they keep on finding people buried under houses and buildings.
in viña del mar (where i am right now) there's been some serious aftershocks as strong as 6 in richter scale. in santiago, for what i know from friends, it's been the usual: the old constructions from before 1985 have taken it perfectly (unless they are really old and decrepit), but the new areas built around or after the 90's have collapsed, if not all of them, many. some places saw whole buildings collapse within, whereas others saw the pillars that hold the constructions collapse. there's been reports of people that lived in 8th floors who were found in basements.
as i said, water and the basic things are coming back as the companies are testing the pipes and lines... they're just making sure that the lines are not broken or will not collapse and explode.
it's hard finding out about people as there's no way to contact friends and families in most cases, but we can only hope for the best. also, there's been comments from the different areas talking about bad aftershocks that are to-be-expected anywhere from now to a month from now.
i will be updating as i hear more and more, but so far people on facebook/twitter and on email are sending me news. right now, and as i type, a big and strong aftershock of 4.7 happened, so i will leave it to here as i'm expecting the power to go off again.
10-4!
Chile está mucho más preparado que, por ejemplo, Haiti. Tiene mucho mejor infraestructura y estabilidad de gobierno.
Chile is much more prepared than, say, Haiti. It has much better infrastructure and government stability.
I was checking the account of Carlos-F and his last seen was one hour right before the earthquake... I'm really worried about him... And I hope that he and his family are OK...
Estoy orando por nuestro buen amigo Carlos y su familia. Espero qué todos esten bien.
Since Chile lies along the boundary of the Nazca and the South American Plates, it has faced a lot of earthquakes. As you see, the Nazca Plate is moving toward and underneath the West of South America and this movement is forming a subduction called the Peru-Chile Trench or the Atacama Trench. The Chile Triple Junction where these two plates and the Antarctica Plate meet consists of the Chile Rise and seafloor spreading lets magma rise. The geography of Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica was affected and many earthquakes and tsunamis occur.
Según la conexión de Heidi, hay setenta y ocho muertos. Espero que el numero de los víctimas no aumente. Estoy pensando en Carlos, su familia, y todas las otras familias.
Apparently our east coast (Australia) is on Tsunami alert. (Impact expected in about an hour from now (it's now 8am Sunday morning). I know that in the Pacific to Australian's east there are many, many low-lying islands........
I am trying to get in touch with Carlos, I think wwe have more Chilean members, I hope all are well, let's see if I hear from carlos. 
I just read:
In Hawaii (USA), officials are warning residents about the possibility of a Tsunami,
with the first waves scheduled to arrive at 11:19 a.m. local time.
For the first time in 16 years, Hawaii will sound evacuation sirens indicating the possibility of danger to those in the coastal regions.
¿Ha tenido alguien noticias de Carlos? creo que vive en Santiago. Ojalá que todo salga bien
Estoy mirando las noticias en TV Chile... recordé instantáneamente a Carlos... esperemos esté bien junto a su familia. Hubo movimientos leves en muchas ciudades de Argentina, pero nada comparado con lo que pasó en Chile.
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News in Englisn about the earthqueke: http://www.buenosairesherald.com/BreakingNews/View/26343
The latest news from the BBC says that at least 76 people are dead. ( Las últimas noticias de la BBC dicen que por lo menos hay 76 personas fallecidas).
P.D. Un saludo de ánimo a todos nuestros amigos chilenos.
Ojalá que el tsunami no haga muchos daños a los lugares costeros.
march 2, 2010. it's 5:15 and i am updating once again.
as blackbull says, the highways are closed towards the south, and the death count has risen to 750 for what i read today. the rescue teams (firemen mostly) continue finding both dead and alive from under the rubble and pancaked buildings, and as far as the looting and violence goes, concepción is in a very bad shape.
today the military and the navy definitely began taking charge of the area, which supposedly means there will be more peace and less insanity...
electricity and water are not constant supplies, not even here in Viña del Mar where i am (as a matter of fact i have no water, nor i've had for a few days), and in the south there is no water, electricity, phones or food, thus making it harder for people to find their relatives and friends. i know that google has their link to find people, and it seems to be the tool that most are using and keeping it fairly updated.
also, the replicas (aftershocks) are one too many and quite often, and the tsunamis hitting the south have not helped at all raise the morale of the people, as they cause more damage on top of everything.
again, i will try to update soon, and hopefully among all of us we'll be able to find carlos. nasa said that 'chile earthquake shifted the earth’s axis and shortened the day'.
a big hug to everyone, and as a friend posted on her facebook page the other day "hold your people close tonight facebook friends... take a moment (or 50) to appreciate what and who you have. problems are small compared to the precious people/friends/family/animals we have. hold them close and speak the things you save for special moments. now is as special a moment as any".
I just got an email from my next door neighbor in my apartment building, and she and her family are safe, thankfully. She also said that thankfully in the capital basic needs and food are available unlike in concepcion, where looting is occuring. She said that the power keeps coming on and off, and she didn't know when she would be able to email me again, but she said so far things are ok. She said some buildings look like nothing happened, and others are completely pancaked. Let you guys know more from her when I can. 
