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domingo, 28 de febrero de 2010

Todo sobre el terremoto en Chile


Terremoto en Chile: 1,5 millón de viviendas dañadas

Redacción

BBC Mundo



Se calcula que 1,5 millón de viviendas quedaron destrozadas en Chile a causa del terremoto.

En medio del dolor y de la muerte, los chilenos empiezan a contar los daños materiales que dejó el sismo de 8,8 grados en la escala de Richter.

La ministra de la Vivienda, Patricia Poblete, señaló que 1,5 millón de viviendas resultaron afectadas por el sismo y que 500.000 inmuebles fueron severamente dañados.

"En 72 horas tendremos algo más riguroso, pero tardará entre quince y veinte días evaluar todo", expresó Poblete ante los medios de comunicación.

"Siempre el ministerio, en estos cuatro años, ha dado tranquilidad a la familias y acogiendo en la emergencia. Ahora tenemos la misma metodología. Está instalada una manera de trabajar, hay una manera de enfrentar las crisis", dijo la funcionaria según la agencia de noticias Europa Press.

Como informó el periodista de la BBC Jonathan Amos, Chile es un país que cuenta en su historia con una larga lista de terremotos.

"Tanto las autoridades como el pueblo chileno tienen experiencia en actuar ante este tipo de emergencias", aseguró, lo que habría evitado cifras más altas en daños materiales y víctimas.
Sanidad e industria

Pese a la preparación, el gobierno de Chile informó que varios de los hospitales ubicados en la zona de la catástrofe registraron daños graves, por lo que "sus pacientes están siendo reubicados en la red asistencial pública y privada".

Asimismo, se ha reportado que los incendios suscitados tras el terremoto han afectado seriamente a fábricas de plástico en la zona norte de la Región Metropolitana.

La prensa local también ha informado que una sección del Club Hípico de Santiago colapsó.

La agencia de noticias Reuters también informó que varias refinerías y minas de cobre tuvieron que interrumpir su producción.

Según Santiago González, ministro de Minería, estos centros reanudarán su actividad en dos días, aunque descartó que el paro fuera a afectar a la exportación de cobre, una de las principales industrias del país.
Aeropuerto afectado

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El aeropuerto internacional Arturo Merino Benítez de Santiago sufrió graves daños en su infraestructura.

De acuerdo con la Dirección de Aeronáutica Civil, continuará la prohibición de salida de aviones comerciales desde el aeropuerto hacia destinos locales e internacionales, hasta el lunes.

"La rampa que da acceso a los vehículos para que lleguen a la terminal resultó destruida, así como la zona de retiro de equipajes, donde se cayó el techo y hubo rotura de vidrios", informó la agencia de noticias ANSA.

El cierre del aeropuerto provocó la paralización del tráfico aéreo en el país, por lo que varias aerolíneas tuvieron que desviar los vuelos que se dirigían hacia Santiago de Chile a otros aeropuertos de países vecinos.
Oferta internacional

Varias organizaciones mundiales le han ofrecido ayuda a la presidenta de Chile, Michelle Bachelet, para superar la catástrofe.

"Expresamos nuestra más profunda solidaridad con el pueblo chileno a la luz del sufrimiento y las pérdidas causadas por el terremoto", dijo el presidente del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, Luis Alberto Moreno.

Por su parte, el presidente del Banco Mundial, Robert B. Zoellick, expresó su solidaridad con Chile.

"El Grupo del Banco Mundial se encuentra listo para apoyar al Gobierno de Chile en la forma en que lo consideren adecuado".

Tras el terremoto en Chile, el tsunami viaja hacia Asia

Redacción

BBC Mundo



Japón se declaró en alerta por tsunami con previsiones de olas de 3 m.

Varios países a lo largo del Océano Pacífico han sido alcanzados por olas producidas por el tsunami que desató el terremoto de 8,8 grados en Chile y que ahora estaría viajando hacia Asia.

Japón fue uno de los últimos países en declararse en alerta, junto con Rusia. A pesar de que las previsiones avisaban de la llegada de olas de hasta 3 metros, la oficina de meteorología japonesa dijo que el tsunami consistió en olas de unos 30 centímetros.

Las autoridades ordenaron la evacuación de 10.000 personas que viven en las zonas costeras, aunque se estima que lo peor ya habría pasado.

La agencia meteorológica del país pidió a la gente que esté en alerta máxima ante la posibilidad de que nuevas olas lleguen este domingo tras pasar por varias naciones oceánicas.

Hasta las Islas Marquesas, en la Polinesia Francesa, llegó ya una ola de 4 metros, pero no se produjeron daños, según la agencia de noticias AFP.

En Tahití se prohibió el tráfico en las carreteras que se encuentran a menos de 500 metros del mar, y los residentes en zonas de baja altura tuvieron que trasladarse a zonas más altas.
Australia y N. Zelanda


Varios países del pacífico alertaron a su población residente en las costas.

Mientras, en Nueva Zelanda las autoridades advirtieron que olas de hasta 3 metros podrían llegar a las islas, pero no se reportaron víctimas ni grandes daños por el momento.

También en Australia las autoridades alertaron sobre "posibles olas peligrosas, fuertes corrientes oceánicas e inundaciones en la costa" desde Sidney a Brisbane.

El Centro de Alertas de Tsunamis del Pacífico advirtió de posibles daños en todo el océano, pero después dijo que las olas producidas por el terremoto chileno no fueron tan altas como se predijo.

En la tarde del sábado, este organismo eliminó la alerta para Hawaii, archipiélago de Estados Unidos en el Pacífico.

La gobernadora del estado, Linda Lingle, informó a la prensa que no se reportaron daños en ninguna parte del archipiélago y afirmó que "un gran día ya se ha acabado".

clic Lea: retiran alerta de tsunami en Hawaii
Poca profundidad

El sismo fue lo suficientemente grande para causar daños significativos, pero no tanto como para causar grandes daños a largas distancias

Gerard Fryer, geofísico

Un geofísico del Centro de Alertas, Gerard Fryer, le dijo a la BBC que el impacto del tsunami fue bajo porque el terremoto se produjo en aguas poco profundas.

"El sismo fue lo suficientemente grande para causar daños significativos, pero no tanto como para causar grandes daños a largas distancias", dijo.

Los sistemas de alerta han mejorado notablemente en la zona después de que un terremoto y el sucesivo tsunami en Indonesia en 2004 causara la muerte a cerca de 250.000 personas.

1.5 Million Displaced After Chile Quake

Sebastian Martinez/Associated Press

The quake in Chile on Saturday caused severe damage, including in Talca, above. More Photos »
By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO and LIZ ROBBINS
Published: February 27, 2010
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RIO DE JANEIRO — A strong aftershock struck Chile on Sunday, a day after a destructive 8.8-magnitude earthquake left hundreds of people dead and a long swath of the country in smoky rubble.
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The death toll was expected to rise, particularly around Concepción, Chile's second-largest metropolitan area, which is roughly 70 miles from the quake's center. The aftershock was reported around 8:30 local time Sunday morning from the capital of Santiago, where it shook buildings, according to Reuters.

More than 1.5 million people have displaced by the quake, according to local news services that quoted the director of Chile's emergency management office. In Concepción, which appeared to be especially hard hit, the mayor said Sunday morning that 100 people were trapped under the rubble of a building that had collapsed, according to Reuters.

Elsewhere in Concepción, cars lay mangled and upended on streets littered with telephone wires and power cables. A new 14-story apartment building fell, while an older, biochemical lab at the University of Concepción caught fire.

In the nearby port of Talcahuano, a giant wave flooded the main square before receding and leaving behind a large fishing boat on the city streets.

"It was terrible, terrible," said Adela Galaz, a 59-year-old cosmetologist who said glasses and paintings fell to the floor of her 22nd-floor apartment in Santiago, 200 miles from the quake's center. "We are grateful to be alive."

President Michelle Bachelet, speaking at a news conference on Saturday night, called the quake "one of the worst tragedies in the last 50 years" and declared a "state of catastrophe."

While this earthquake was far stronger than the 7.0-magnitude one that ravaged Haiti six weeks ago, the damage and death toll in Chile are likely to be far less extensive, in part because of strict building codes put in place after devastating earthquakes.

The quake Saturday, tied for the fifth largest in the world since 1900, set off tsunami waves that swamped some nearby islands before moving across the Pacific. Hawaii began evacuations before dawn, but by early afternoon there — more than 15 hours after the earthquake first struck 6,500 miles away — the fears of a destructive wave had passed. Countries including Japan and the Philippines were on alert and ordered limited evacuations in anticipation of waves hitting Sunday.

Chileans were only just beginning to grapple with the devastation before them, even as more than two dozen significant aftershocks struck the country.

In Santiago, the capital, residents reported having been terrified as the city shook for about 90 seconds.

Some people ran screaming from their downtown apartments, while car alarms and sirens wailed during the middle of the night. At least one apartment building collapsed, according to local media, and one highway buckled, flipping cars.

"We are in panic because it has been trembling all day," said Cecilia Vial, 65, an interior decorator in Santiago, who dashed out of her apartment only to return at night because she had nowhere else to go.

"We cannot go against nature," she said. "This is something that nature did."

Paul E. Simons, the United States ambassador to Chile, said in a telephone interview from Santiago that people he spoke with at the embassy said those 90 seconds "felt like five minutes." He added: "It was definitely an emotional experience."

Mr. Simons said that although the United States had offered aid, Chile's government had not yet requested assistance. All international relief groups were on standby, and the International Federation of Red Crosses and Red Crescents said the Chilean Red Cross indicated that it did not need external assistance at this point.

Although there were long lines at supermarkets and gas stations, and damaged buildings and roads, the capital city, according to residents there, was mostly calm by the late afternoon Saturday. But the scene was grimmer in Concepción and surrounding areas to the south.
In Talca, 167 miles south of Santiago, almost every home in the center of the city was severely damaged, and on Saturday night, people slept on the streets in the balmy night air near fires built with wood from destroyed homes. All but two of the local hospital's 13 wings were in ruins, said Claudio Martínez, a doctor at the hospital. "We're only keeping the people in danger of dying," he said.
Multimedia
Photographs
Earthquake in Chile

Map
Maps of the Chile Earthquake

Photographs
Readers' Photos: Chile Earthquake

VIDEO: Quake Damage in Chile

VIDEO: Seeking Help in Chile

VIDEO: Obama Says U.S. Ready to Assist Chile


Related
Latest Updates From the Lede Blog
Send Us Your Observations

Send Photos: Submit | E-mail pix@nyt.com

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Hawaii Exhales as Tsunami Warning Is Canceled (February 28, 2010)

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Dr. Martínez said the hospital staff had tried to take some people to Santiago for treatment in the morning, but the roads were blocked at the time.

Eduardo Martínez, 57, a local resident, said many people on his street had died and that he and his five brothers all lost their homes.

In Chillán, 69 miles from Concepción, a crumbling wall allowed 300 prisoners to escape and incite a riot, according to La Tercera, the nation's largest newspaper. The police captured 60 inmates, but more than 200 were still at large, the newspaper reported on its Web site. With major highways and bridges destroyed, and slabs of concrete jabbing diagonally into the air, transportation slowed or was halted altogether.

Major seaports and airports, including the main airport in Santiago, were out of operation across the central region, Chilean officials said. TV Chile reported that part of the ceiling at the airport had collapsed, but that runways appeared intact. Cellphone and Internet service was sporadic throughout the country, considered one of the most wired in Latin America, complicating rescue efforts.

On Robinson Crusoe, one of the coastal islands hit by early waves, authorities said at least four people had been killed.

President Obama spoke briefly outside the White House on Saturday afternoon, expressing concern for the country and saying the United States would offer aid in rescue and recovery efforts.

"Early indications are that hundreds of lives have been lost in Chile and the damage has been severe," Mr. Obama said.

He told Mrs. Bachelet that the United States was ready to help if needed. "We will be there for her should the Chilean people need assistance," he said

State Department officials said that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who had been planning a trip to South America beginning on Monday, was also contacting Mrs. Bachelet, with whom she has long had warm personal relations.

Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general, also offered his condolences, as well as longer-term aid should Chilean officials signal the need for it.

The earthquake struck at 3:34 a.m. in central Chile, centered roughly 200 miles southwest of Santiago at a depth of 22 miles, the United States Geological Survey reported.

The Geological Survey said that another earthquake on Saturday, a 6.3-magnitude quake in northern Argentina, was unrelated. In Salta, Argentina, an 8-year-old boy was killed and two of his friends were injured when a wall collapsed, The Associated Press reported.

The most powerful earthquake ever recorded was also in Chile: a 9.5-magnitude quake struck in the spring of 1960 that struck near Concepción and set off a series of deadly tsunamis that killed people as far away as Hawaii and Japan.

But that earthquake, which killed nearly 2,000 people and left more than two million homeless at the time, prepared officials and residents in the region for future devastating effects.

Shortly after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck in Valparaíso in 1985, the country established strict building codes, according to Andre Filiatrault, the director of the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research at the University at Buffalo.

"There is a lot of reinforced concrete in Chile, which is normal in Latin America," Professor Filiatrault said. "The only issue in this, like any earthquakes, are the older buildings and residential construction that might not have been designed according to these codes."

This was in direct contrast to Haiti, which was unprepared for the Jan. 12 earthquake, Professor Filiatrault added.

"If you are considering this magnitude is 8.8, I would be very surprised if the death tolls come close," Professor Filiatrault said.

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