No word if any companies will be responding to this disaster. I will assume that Chile has all the security forces it needs with it’s police and military, but you never know. We will keep a look out for anything that pops up.
Luckily, Chile’s buildings were better built than what was in Haiti, and that is good. I am sure they would have had way more deaths if they weren’t. My heart goes out to the victims of this earthquake, and I hope they are able to respond fast enough to save everyone. –Matt
Edit: 3/6/2010 – Thanks to Rosa for sending me this link on an interesting site that compiles all the available news video footage on the event, and does some analysis based on that compilation. Check it out here.
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Looting Sparks Security Concerns in Post-Quake Chile
Michelle Ruiz
March 1, 2010
Rescuers searched for survivors in the rubble-strewn streets of Chile today as widespread looting sparked security concerns following the earthquake that has killed more than 700 people and displaced more than 2 million. Three more aftershocks hit the country this morning, according to a published report.
“The catastrophe is enormous,” President Michelle Bachelet said at a news conference Sunday, adding that her declared “state of catastrophe” would continue as the Chilean military maintains order in the streets and the air force flies basic supplies to the hardest-hit regions.
“We are confronting an emergency without parallel in Chile’s history,” she said.
In the heavily damaged city of Concepcion, looters descended on supermarkets and electronic stores and police fought them
with tear gas and water cannons.
Firefighters in Concepcion who were ready to lower a rescue worker into the rubble were halted when the scent of tear gas forced them to stop.
“It’s sad, but because of the situation you have to confront the robberies and at the same time continue the search,” police officer Jorge Guerra told The Associated Press.
Bachelet gave the military control of security in the area, where nearly every market had been emptied and no food or drinking water was available, according to the AP. Power outages kept the city in the dark.
“We are overwhelmed,” a police officer told the AP.
Looters reportedly cleared the contents of a shopping mall in San Pedro, even robbing ATM machines and siphoning gas from underground tanks.
“It was a mob. They looted everything,” said police Sgt. Rene Gutierrez, 46, who had his men guarding the now-empty mall. “Now we’re only here to protect the building — what’s left of the building.”
Bachelet said grocery store items would be given away for free, under military supervision. She ordered troops to help hand out food, water and blankets and clear the roads of debris, the AP reported.
Concepcion Mayor Jacqueline van Rysselberghe condemned the looting as “unjustifiable” on a Chilean radio station, but argued that the government was too slow in sending food and water. She said some of the looters were merely opportunistic, not desperate, CNN reported.
“They are robbing everything.”
One man looting at a supermarket told Reuters he was simply trying to get food.
“People have gone days without eating,” Orlando Salazar said. “The only option is to come here and get stuff for ourselves.”
Curfews were imposed on two struggling areas Sunday, including Concepcion, where police warned that only emergency workers and security officials would be allowed on the streets from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. For a reported 2 million displaced people, there was no secure home to return to, as more than 1 million residences were damaged or destroyed in the quake.
There were reports of residents gathering in public parks and pitching tents on grassy stretches of cities as night approached.
“I lost my bed,” one Chilean woman told ABC News. “I lost everything. All I have is the clothes on my back.”
As survivors try to cope, rescue workers continue to search for signs of life.
About 60 people remained trapped in a collapsed 15-story apartment building in Concepcion, where authorities believe another 100 have died in the quake.
Rescue workers labored through the night in their search for survivors in the wreckage of the newly constructed Rio Alta building, as Mayor van Rysselberghe stressed on national television that “time is of the essence to save the people” who are believed to be trapped.
“It fell at the moment the earthquake began,” 4th Lt. Juan Schulmeyer of Concepcion’s 7th Firefighter Company, told Reuters of the apartment building. After 24 hours, 23 people were pulled out alive and six bodies were recovered, according to published reports.
After the building shook and began to topple, Alberto Rozas said he and his 7-year-old daughter clung to each other as they fell 13 floors from their apartment, not knowing which way was up.
“The earthquake and the fall were one single, horrible thing,” Rozas told The Associated Press Sunday. “I held onto her and she never let me go.”
Another resident, Fernando Abarzua, emerged with no major injuries.
“I was on the eighth floor and all of a sudden I was down here,” he told the London Times from the ground floor.
Firefighters reportedly used thermal detectors to search for signs of life in the collapsed building, even as more than 60 aftershocks, including one measured at 6.1-magnitude Sunday, caused the ground to shake in Concepcion, and have undermining rescue efforts.
Three more aftershocks were felt today, according to The New York Times. Two were in the Maule region, with magnitudes of 4.9 and 5.3.
“We spent the whole night working, smashing through walls to find survivors,” Commander Marcelo Plaza told the Times. “The biggest problem is fuel, we need fuel for our machinery and water for our people.”
Bachelet urged people to limit their gas and electric use, as the nation’s power outages continue hampering communications as well as rescue and aid work.
After initially declining offers for international aid, including a pledge of support from U.S. President Barack Obama, Bachelet said she would accept some of the offers.
“This will take a great effort from all sectors, public and private,” she said, adding that Chile is now in dire need of aid workers, field hospitals, temporary bridges, and damage assessment experts.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will visit Chile this week in a trip planned before the earthquake hit.
“Our hemisphere comes together in times of crisis,” Clinton said. “We will stand side by side with the people of Chile in this emergency.”
Story here.