Fuerte Chile!

We are not getting much news on the television about the Chilean earthquake even though it was only a little more than a week ago. The plates of the earth keep shifting and cause quakes elsewhere in the world. There was a quake of significant proportion in Turkey just a day or so ago and that has now pushed Chile off the front pages.

After taking the tour of Santiago and Valparaiso I was glad to see that there was not a significant amount of apparent damage. Previously, I had met a man who had experienced the quake and asked him to tell me about it. Here is what he told me.

Danielo said that he and his wife and two small children were at home sleeping when the quake struck about 3:30 in the morning. Their home is in the suburbs of Santiago toward the south part of the city, which means closer to the epicenter of the quake. His home is about 5 years old and is a good structure, built to the required government code for residential housing.

Their first experience was the sudden shaking of the bed and the sounds of everything in the bedroom moving. Items on the dressers and hanging on the walls began to move and crash to the floor. Glass in several windows broke and shards of glass fell to the floor. It was dark and the electricity had been cut off so they had to stumble around to get the children’s bedrooms. The kids were crying and everyone was scared. The shaking continued for at least a full minute. They huddled together in a small interior room, like a walk in closet, so that they could not be injured by breaking glass. It was the most frightening experience of his life.

After a while the earth stopped trembling and they realized that they were safe and their home had withstood a serious earthquake. They got dressed, put on their shoes and with flashlights began to survey the damage as best they could.It appeared that their damage was limited to glasses, cups and plates thrown to the floor in the kitchen and table top picture frames knocked to the floor. A few window panes were broken and minor damage to a few window frames.

By now it was about 4:30 in the morning and still very dark, but not quiet. Many of the homes in his community have security alarm systems and many of the cars parked in driveways and streets are similarly equipped. The endless sound of alarms beeping and horns blaring was nerve wracking. After another hour or so, people were able to turn off the systems and it became quieter. The biggest concern at this point is an aftershock, which can sometimes be just as devastating as the initial quake.

Daylight was still three hours away, most cell phones were not working and without electricity they were essentially without any communication. Finally, by daybreak they were able to see that for the most part they had escaped significant damage, and at least one of their cell phones was working.

Most of the day Saturday and Sunday was spent cleaning up their home and assisting some neighbors with their cleanup as well. Power was restored early on Monday, so they did have some loss of refrigerated foods, but other than that they had escaped any serious property damage.

Danielo was very proud to say that all Chilean’s are community conscious and will work together to repair and rebuild the damage to their country. He asked me if I noticed all the Chilean flags that were being proudly displayed everywhere we went. I told him I did and noted that even some of the smallest and poorest houses had little flags hanging somewhere on them. Danielo was getting a little choked up as we were talking; he was describing a painful experience and no doubt was reliving it as he was telling me about a horrific personal event in his life and the lives of his countrymen.

Chileans are very patriotic and are very proud of their history dating back to the struggle for independence from Spain in 1810. We saw many cars and vans flying flags that had side and back windows painted with the words “fuerte Chile,” meaning Chile is Strong or Long Live Chile. The Chilean people have been through a lot of struggles. First to gain their independence and then maintain their democratic form of self government. This year they are celebrating the 200th anniversary of their independence, with banners hanging from lampposts all over the city proclaiming “Uno Solo Chile,” “There is only one Chile.”

The spirit of the Chilean people is tangible and contagious. No doubt they will recover and be stronger as a result of their united effort to rebuild.