Quake Survivors: 'It's Like End Of The World'

[tekisui]

Source: Jack fm

Shaken survivors in Chile have spoken of their horror after an earthquake measuring 8.8 on the Richter scale struck the country during the night.

Few reports have surfaced from Concepcion, close to where the earthquake first struck, though initial reports say that the city is "devastated" and now looks "like a war zone".

One witness, Macarena Railef, said the force of the quake was overwhelming even far from its epicentre.

"I was in La Serena, a city located about 700 kilometres from Concepcion, but still, it was the worst thing I've felt.

"And about 10 minutes after the quake stopped, the lights in all the city died, and everything turned to darkness.

"The stop lights didn't work, and people started driving to high lands fearing a tsunami."

Another man from Temuco, around 200 miles from the epicentre, told local television: "Never in my life have I experienced a quake like this, it's like the end of the world."

One reporter from the French news agency AFP said that buildings in the capital Santiago "shook like jelly".

A witness in Santiago called Enzo said: "There's still no news from the epicentre. The city is mute, there's no internet nor telephone connection.

"With the main highway cut off, there's no connection to the rest of the country. And still I know nothing of my family in Concepcion."

more: http://www.jackbristol.com/newscentre/international-news/quake-survivors-its-like-end-of-the-world-15561170

[Imajika]

1. This one is really bad...

Just gotta hope it didn't hit hardest in areas concentrated with people.

8.8 though. That is a monster quake.

[tekisui]

3. MSNBC reporting it was 1,000 times stronger than Haiti's quake?

Is that accurate?

[kestrel91316]

5. 100 x. 8.8 richter is 100 x 6.8 richter. Bad enough if you ask me.....

[tekisui]

6. Definitely. But, I did think the 1,000x seemed too high.

Thanks for the clarification.

[Cetacea]

12. I heard it had 500 times the energy of Haiti's quake. Seems high.

[MoonRiver]

2. I can't even imagine the horror.

The most terrifying thing is when people are buried alive. Being very claustrophobic, I think I would go insane if that ever happened to me.

[livetohike]

4. Me too. I can't even put a blanket over my head

:-(

[hlthe2b]

8. All I can do is hope for them (and cuddle my girlie dog)...

to keep sane while we await the news... I can only hope the area was not densely populated.

[xchrom]

7. Recommend

[Cleita]

9. Fortunately, Concepcion is in a sparsely populated part of the country,

yet I'm sure there will be a devastating death toll percentagewise.

[MoonRiver]

10. I thought it was the second biggest city in Chile.

:shrug:

[Cleita]

11. Look at it this way. The biggest city in Chile is Santiago and half the population

lives there. I wasn't so much referring to the city though than the surrounding areas. If such an earthquake hit Southern California, it would be bloodbath because of the density of our population. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Chile