The Good: A 12 year old girl saved the life of many of the people from Juan Fernández Island, 600 kms off the Chilean coast. Martina Maturana learned about the earthquake from her grandfather in Valparaíso. She felt a slight tremor, and her father phoned Valparaiso just to learn that there had been a powerful earthquake. When Martina heard this, she run to a central plaza of Robinson Crusoe Island, and rang a gong, which was the emergency alarm for the people in the island.
The signal awoke many people, who at the same time began ringing bells and so everybody could flee to higher land, minutes before a giant wave destroyed most of the area. Because of Martina's action, about 700 people were saved. The numbers show 8 deaths and 13 unaccounted for, and nothing left of the town site.
The signal awoke many people, who at the same time began ringing bells and so everybody could flee to higher land, minutes before a giant wave destroyed most of the area. Because of Martina's action, about 700 people were saved. The numbers show 8 deaths and 13 unaccounted for, and nothing left of the town site.
The Bad: The Chilean Navy made a mistake when initially discounting the possibility of a tsunami on the south coast of Chile after the earthquake. In a public declaration it was admitted that the Navy "made a mistake by not issuing a tsunami alert". Immediately after the earthquake, the president Michelle Bachelet discounted the threat of a tsunami and told everybody to remain calm in their homes...
In spite of that, many people ran to the hills and saved their lives. Tragically, many elderly people couldn't make it out of the devastated areas.
The Ugly: The looting in Concepcion. Scary. There are so many facets to the issue of looting. In some cases, I have seen pictures of women taking diapers and powder milk, presumably for their children... but on the other hand, seen pictures of people taking TVs and washing machines... In some areas, residents have got together to defend their neighbourhoods... You have to remember, too, that there are lots of criminals that escaped when the prisons collapsed. And then again, Concepcion was not receiving the help they needed so much. They don't have water, electric power or communications.
Now the armed forces are trying to reestablish order, and guard food stores and other businesses. Stores tried to distribute food, but it was very chaotic because as days go by people get more desperate for necessities... It's a very sad and complex situation...
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