NEWS IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation in Southeast Asia and Haiti

 

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 20 FEBRUARY 2010

 

http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/domrepublic_52775.html

 

UNICEF AND DOMINICAN PARTNERS PROTECT UNACCOMPANIED HAITIAN CHILDREN

 

By Jennifer Bakody

 

JIMANI, Dominican Republic, 16 February 2010 – Born and raised in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 13-year-old Loveson has such a small frame that he could easily pass for 9 or 10. Outside the makeshift UN headquarters here, 5 km from the Dominican Republic’s border with Haiti, he plays with a plush Tiger hand puppet and a toy cell phone.

 

Under the circumstances, Loveson is understandably shy. But when asked how he’s feeling, he smiles. “I have all these people around me,” he says quietly in his native Creole. “Everyone is looking after me now.”

 

Over the past month, Loveson has been through a lot. On 12 January, the earthquake that struck the Haitian capital and other densely populated areas levelled his family’s home. While Loveson managed to escape immediate harm, by all accounts his relatives inside did not.

 

Alone and scared, Loveson somehow found his way to the border. In the chaos, he crossed into the Dominican Republic, where a local family first took him in before bringing him to UNICEF’s offices in Jimani.

 

A SAFE ENVIRONMENT

UNICEF Dominican Republic staff member Moyra Tames has been working with Loveson ever since. The first priority was “that his basic needs were met and that he was examined, fed and placed in a SAFE ENVIRONMENT, under supervision,” she says.

 

Ms. Tames immediately arranged for Loveson to be sheltered with one of UNICEF’s partners on the ground. She made sure he had access to safe water, soap and other essential items.

 

Loveson also has been introduced to a professional psycho-social counsellor to help him begin dealing with a kind of trauma that even adults aren’t equipped to handle.

 

MONITORING, SUPPORT AND PROTECTION

Meanwhile, UNICEF and its partners have been supporting efforts by the Dominican National Council for Children and Adolescents to locate Loveson’s closest surviving relatives and return him home to their care.

His case isn’t unique. UNICEF has been following cases of unaccompanied Haitian minors in the Dominican Republic since shortly after the earthquake struck. Each case requires close monitoring; each child needs life-saving support and protection.

 

As for Loveson, he’s retaining his ready smile and has even made a new friend – a boy his own age who lives in Jimani but comes from Haiti. They spend most of their days outside, racing around amongst the busy aid workers and calling out each other’s names. By meal time, they’ve expended a lot of energy. And like most teen-aged boys, they have very healthy appetites.

 

Updated: 17 February 2010

 

'Baby tents' offer Haitian mothers a safe place to breastfeed

 

 

http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/haiti_52806.html

 

A FATHER'S ACCOUNT OF THE EARTHQUAKE AND ITS AFTERMATH

 

By Jennifer Bakody

 

FOND PARISIEN, Haiti, 19 February 2010 – Dieuveil Marcelin Aristide and his 12-year-old son Lemark are encamped in a small tent with a dozen other strangers located some 50 kilometers from their former home in Port-au-Prince.

On 12 January, Lemark was doing homework when the earthquake struck and the walls of his bedroom collapsed around him.

"A concrete block fell onto my legs," he recalled. "I couldn't move and I was in pain."

 

Mr. Aristide was rocking Lemark's baby brother in the living room. They, too, became trapped. Disoriented and barely able to breathe in the dust, he saw a ray of light through the darkness—a ray of light that led him from the rubble to a hole in an outside WALL.

 

The baby was lowered through the hole first. In time, with help from his neighbours, Mr. Aristide was able to escape. It took four more hours, however, to chip away at the heavy block wedged into Lemark's lower body. A Haitian pastor drove Lemark and his father to the border town of Fond Parisien where Lemark received life-saving care. Despite suffering great pain, Lemark's recovery has progressed steadily. He is now recuperating in a full pelvic cast.

 

GRATEFUL TO BE ALIVE

The Aristide family is grateful to be alive. They praise the authorities and international volunteers for the care they have received. The family of four – mother, father and two sons – were reunited briefly at the 'Love A Child' Christian-missionary camp in Fond Parisien, Haiti. Lemark's mother and brother have since returned to Port-au-Prince, where they have no fixed address.

 

"We have nothing," said Mr. Aristide. "We're in the street, left to fend for ourselves, because everything we had has been destroyed. So, well, there's just God now, who's going to help us. He'll guide us, because we believe in Him."

 

ESSENTIAL AID

Nearly FORTY PER CENT of all Haitians are BELOW FOURTEEN YEARS of age. That is why UNICEF is urgently WORKING WITH GOVERNMENTS AND PARTNERS at this camp and on both sides of the border to PROVIDE ESSENTIAL AID and SAFE WATER TO CHILDREN and their CAREGIVERS. UNICEF will continue to ASSIST PEOPLE like the Aristides in their efforts to BUILD BACK BETTER.

 

Lemark hopes to become an engineer one day. Prior to the earthquake, he was planning on finishing his secondary education and continuing to university. Today, Lemark looks forward to one day returning to school.

 

Updated: 19 February 2010

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation in Haiti 21 February 2010 and a Philippines article

 

UPDATE OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 21 FEBRUARY 2010

 

ALL 33 HAITIAN ‘ORPHANS’ WITH BAPTISTS HAD PARENTS

 

(02/21/2010 | 11:14 AM - GMA News.TV)

 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — There is not one orphan among the 33 children that a US Baptist group tried to take from Haiti in a do-it-yourself rescue mission following a devastating earthquake, the Associated Press has found.

 

In the rubble-riddled Citron slum where 13 of the children lived, parents who gave their children away confirmed Saturday that each one of the youngsters had living parents.

 

Their testimony echoed that of parents in the mountain town of Callabas, outside of Port-au-Prince, who told the AP on Feb. 3 that desperation and blind faith led them to hand over 20 children to the religious Americans who promised them a better life.

 

Now the Citron parents worry they may never see their children again.

 

One Citron mother who gave up all four of her children, including a 3-month-old, is locked in a trance-like state but sometimes erupts into fits of hysteria.

 

Her husband and other parents said they relinquished their children to the U.S. missionaries because they were promised safekeeping across the border in a newly established orphanage in the Dominican Republic.

 

Their stories contradict the missionaries' still-jailed leader, Laura Silsby, who told the AP the day after her arrest that the children were either orphans or came from distant relatives.

 

"She should have told the truth," said Jean Alex Viellard, a 25-year-old law student from Citron who otherwise expressed admiration for the missionaries.

 

He took them cookies, candies and oranges during their nearly three weeks of detention before eight of the 10 were released Wednesday on their own recognizance and flew home to the United States.

 

Silsby, 40, and her assistant, Charisa Coulter, 24, remain jailed as the investigating judge interviews officials at the orphanages the two visited prior to the devastating Jan. 12 quake.

 

The judge flew to the neighboring Dominican Republic on Saturday. The two are to appear in court again Tuesday.

 

As they left the jail and boarded a U.S. Embassy van, the freed Baptists waved and thanked Viellard, who later called them "great people who were doing good for Haiti." The Americans, most from an Idaho church group, were charged with child kidnapping for trying to remove the children without the proper documents to the Dominican Republic in the post-quake chaos.

 

Silsby had been working since last summer to create an orphanage. After the quake, she hastily organized a self-styled "rescue mission," enlisting missionaries from Idaho, Texas and Kansas.

 

She was led to Citron by Pastor Jean Sainvil, an Atlanta, Georgia-based Haitian minister who recruited the 13 children in the slum. Sainvil had been a frequent visitor to the neighborhood of unpaved streets and simple cement homes even before more than half of the houses collapsed in the quake.

 

"The pastor said that with all the bodies decomposing in the rubble there were going to be epidemics, and the kids were going to get sick," said Regilus Chesnel, a 39-year-old stone mason.

 

Chesnel's wife, 33-year-old Bertho Magonie, said her husband persuaded her to give away their children — ages 12, 7, 3, and 1 — and a 10-year-old nephew living with them because their house had collapsed and the kids were sick.

 

"They were vomiting. They had fevers, diarrhea and headaches," she said, leaning against the wall of the grimy two-room hovel the couple shares.

 

In a telephone interview from the United States on Saturday, Sainvil confirmed the Chesnels' story. He said a collapsed building adjacent to where the children lived held six or seven corpses.

 

He said he first met Silsby on Jan. 27 in the town of Ouanaminthe on the Haiti-Dominican border and agreed to help her collect children for a 150-bed orphanage the Americans were establishing near the beach resort of Cabarete in the Dominican Republic.

 

Sainvil, a former orphan who says his nondenominational Haiti Sharing Jesus Ministry has 25 churches in the countryside, said the two agreed to meet again in Port-au-Prince on Feb. 13 to get more children.

 

The day after he met Silsby, Sainvil collected the 13 children from Citron. A day after that, the missionaries' bus was halted at the Dominican border and they were arrested. Sainvil, meanwhile, became sick with vomiting and diarrhea and decided to fly back to the U.S. on a military transport plane, he said.

He denied leaving out of fear he might be arrested. "I wasn't doing anything wrong," he said.

 

Sainvil said what Silsby was doing did not constitute adoption "because the parents had the right to go visit their children or take them back when their situation changed." The pastor said his deeds are often misunderstood by people in the developed world who don't realize that more than half of the 380,000 children in Haiti's orphanages are not orphans. Many have parents who — even before the quake — were simply unable to care for them.

 

The problem is that some of the "orphans" end up as sex slaves or become domestics who work for food and shelter — and sometimes school. Fearing more such abuse of children after the quake, Haiti's government banned all adoptions except those approved before the disaster.

 

Sainvil said he went to Citron for children because he knew people there were desperate: He had been sleeping under tarps with them. Food was barely trickling in, medical care was just becoming available and hundreds of decomposing bodies were buried beneath the neighborhood's collapsed homes.

 

Under one of the blue tarps sheltering the Chesnels' homeless neighbors, 27-year-old Maletid Desilien lay Saturday on a bed of two soiled rugs. Only her eyes peered out from under a bedsheet.

"She has been like that ever since someone told her she will never get the kids back," said her husband, Dieulifanne Desilien, who works in a T-shirt factory.

 

That was eight days ago. Most of the time she lies catatonic, he said, warning a reporter not to go near because she periodically has fits.

 

"She would get up, take her clothes off and run around pulling her hair out," Desilien, 40, said of his wife. "She would jump up from sleep and say, 'Bring me my kids.'" He said she only calms down and is able to sleep after speaking by phone with her children, who are at an orphanage in the capital run by the Austrian-based SOS Children's Villages charity.

 

The day they arrived, orphanage officials said, the Desiliens' 3-month-old daughter, Koestey, was so dehydrated she had to be hospitalized. The other children are ages 7, 6 and 4. Their father — but not their mother — has visited them.

 

Desilien said a police commander has assured him that he will get the children back. The Social Welfare ministry, however, has yet to decide whether some or all of the 33 children will be returned to their parents.

 

"My wife is sick so I have to find a way to get the children back," Deselien said.

- AP

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UPDATE OF THE SITUATION IN THE PHILIPPINES ON 21 FEBRUARY 2010

 

German ARDtext: WATER SHORTAGE IN THE PHILIPPINES

 

The Philippines suffer from shortage of water. The government has appealed to the population to consume less water. The water level in one of the most vital dams is disturbingly low. "If we do not economize on water, then we'll face serious problems", a presidential spokesman warned. The period of drought has already caused failing crops to the value of 50 million EURO. The drought could last until July, the Ministry of Agriculture warned. Back in October 2009 several devastating typhoons had flooded parts of the Philippines.

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation in Haiti on 22 February 2010

 

UPDATE OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 22 FEBRUARY 2010

 

Swedish SVTtext + Danish TV2 TTV:

HAITI DEATH TOLL COULD REACH 300,000

According to Haiti's President Réné Préval, the death toll may rise to 300,000 when including those buried underneath the rubble. More than 200,000 bodies were picked up in the streets. This figure does not include those still buried underneath the rubble. The death toll could be as high as 300,000. President Préval said this at a meeting in Mexico with American leaders. According to the Inter-American Development Bank, it may cost 14 billion dollars to rebuild the country after the devastating earthquake on 12 January 2010.

 

Danish DR1 Text-TV:

HAITI DEATH TOLL COULD REACH 300,000

The figure may be as high as 300,000, and if so, then the earthquake in Haiti is one of the most lethal natural disasters in recent times. The tsunami in the Indian Ocean in 2004 cost more than 200,000 human lives.

 

Danish TV2 TTV:

BABY DOC's MILLIONS MAY GO TO HAITI

The equivalent of DKK 48 million may be underway to Haiti's distressed and needy victims of the devastating earthquake. The money comes from ex-dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier - better known as Baby Doc - who ruled Haiti from 1971 to 1986 and who lives in France. Duvalier has previously said that he will donate the many millions to his countrymen. The fortune is however frozen in the Swiss bank UBS. The government in Switzerland will change that by means of a new act. This can be read in the Danish newspaper "POLITIKEN".

 

 

HAITI LEADER SAYS QUAKE TOLL COULD REACH 300,000

(02/22/2010 | 09:55 AM - GMA News.TV)

 

PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico — The president of Haiti said Sunday the death toll from his country's earthquake could reach 300,000 once all the bodies are recovered from wrecked buildings.

 

Speaking after arriving in Mexico for regional meetings that will include discussion of Haitian aid needs, Preval gave no indication of how he reached the figure.

 

"You have seen the pictures, you know the numbers, more than 200,000 bodies picked up in the streets, counting those that are still underneath the rubble, perhaps we could arrive at 300,000 deaths," Preval said at a meeting between Mexican officials and the countries of the Caribbean trade bloc.

 

Haiti's government has placed the death toll at between 170,000 and 230,000. It depends on which official is talking and none have explained in detail the methodology used to arrive at the numbers.

 

The country's chief epidemiologist has said he believes the government is making a lot of estimates.

 

Preval will also attend the Unity Summit of Latin American and Caribbean nations convened by the Rio Group starting Monday. Aid for Haiti in the wake of the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake is expected to be discussed.

 

Arriving Sunday aboard a Mexican government plane, Preval thanked Mexico for all the aid it has sent to his country since the quake. - "I want to thank the Mexican people with all my heart," he said. - AP

[nancyk58]

News articles dealing with the Philippines on 22 February 2010

 

UPDATE OF THE SITUATION IN THE PHILIPPINES ON 22 FEBRUARY 2010

 

MAGNITUDE-3.8 QUAKE ROCKS LEYTE - PHIVOLCS

 

(02/22/2010 | 12:05 PM - GMA News.TV)

 

A magnitude-3.8 quake rocked parts of Leyte in central Philippines early Monday morning, state seismologists said.

 

In its 6:14 a.m. bulletin, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said the quake hit the Visayan province at 4:51 a.m.

 

Its epicenter was traced northeast of Ormoc City, whose residents felt the quake at Intensity III, the Phivolcs said.

 

GMA News received an information from a resident of Carigara town, which is north of Ormoc City, that the quake was also felt in the municipality.

 

According to the Phivolcs, an earthquake felt at Intensity III means it was "felt by many people indoors especially in upper floors of buildings" and that "vibration is felt like one passing of a light truck."

 

No damage or aftershocks are expected, the Phivolcs said.

 

- Johanna Camille Sisante/RSJ, GMANews.TV

 

 

US STUDY: WARMING TO BRING STRONGER HURRICANES

 

(02/22/2010 | 08:55 AM - GMA News.TV)

 

WASHINGTON – Top researchers now agree that the world is likely to get STRONGER but FEWER HURRICANES in the FUTURE because of GLOBAL WARMING, seeming to settle a scientific debate on the subject. But they say there's not enough evidence yet to tell whether that effect has already begun.

 

Since just before Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana and Mississippi in 2005, dueling scientific papers have clashed about whether global warming is worsening hurricanes and will do so in the future. The new study seems to split the difference. A special World Meteorological Organization panel of 10 experts in both hurricanes and climate change — including leading scientists from both sides — came up with a CONCENSUS, which is published online Sunday in the journal Nature Geoscience.

 

"We've really come a long way in the last two years about our knowledge of the hurricane and climate issue," said study co-author Chris Landsea, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration top hurricane researcher.

 

The technical term for these storms are tropical cyclones; in the Atlantic they get called hurricanes, elsewhere typhoons.

 

The study offers projections for tropical cyclones worldwide by the end of this century, and some experts said the bad news outweighs the good. Overall strength of storms as measured in wind speed would rise by 2 to 11 percent, but there would be between 6 and 34 percent fewer storms in number. Essentially, there would be fewer weak and moderate storms and more of the big damaging ones, which also are projected to be stronger due to warming.

 

An 11 percent increase in WIND SPEED translates to roughly a 60 percent increase in DAMAGE, said study co-author Kerry Emanuel, a professor of meteorology at MIT.

 

The storms also would carry more RAIN, another indicator of DAMAGE, said lead author Tom Knutson, a research meteorologist at NOAA.

 

Knutson said the new study, which looks at worldwide projections, doesn't make clear whether global warming will lead to more or less hurricane damage on balance. But he pointed to a study he co-authored last month that looked at just the Atlantic hurricane basin and predicted that global warming would trigger a 28 percent INCREASE IN DAMAGE NEAR THE US despite fewer storms.

 

That study suggests category 4 and 5 Atlantic hurricanes — those with winds more than 130 mph — would nearly double by the end of the century. On average, a category 4 or stronger hurricane hits the United States about once every seven years, mostly in Florida or Texas. Recent category 4 or 5 storms include 2004's Charley and 1992's Andrew, but not Katrina which made landfall as a strong category 3.

 

Outside experts praised the work. The study does a good job of summarizing the current understanding of storms and warming, said Chunzai Wang, a researcher with NOAA who had no role in the study.

 

James Lee Witt, former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said the study "should be a stern and stark warning that America needs to be better prepared and protected from the devastation that these kinds of hurricanes produce."

 

The issue of hurricanes and global warming splashed onto front pages in the summer of 2005 when MIT's Emanuel published a paper in Nature saying hurricane destruction has increased since the mid-1970s because of global warming, adding it would only get worse.

 

Several weeks later Hurricane Katrina struck, killing 1,500 people and the 2005 hurricane season was the busiest on record with 28 named storms and seven major hurricanes. But then other scientists led by Landsea disputed the conclusions that storms were already increasing in number or intensity.

 

Now Landsea and Emanuel are co-authors on the same paper with Knutson.

 

In 2007, the authoritative Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said it was "more likely than not" that man-made greenhouse gases had already altered storm activity, but the authors of the new paper said more recent evidence muddies the issue.

 

"The evidence is not strong enough that we could make some kind of statement" along those lines, Knutson said. It doesn't mean the IPCC report was wrong; it was just based on science done by 2006 and recent research has changed a bit, said Knutson and the other researchers.

 

Lately, the IPCC series of reports on warming has been criticized for errors. Emanuel said the international climate panel gave "an accurate summary of science that existed at that point." - AP

[nancyk58]

Updates of news in the Philippines on 23 February 2010

 

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN THE PHILIPPINES ON 23 FEBRUARY 2010

 

PHIVOLCS: MILD PREDAWN QUAKES ROCK EASTERN VISAYAS

 

(02/23/2010 | 08:33 AM - GMA News.TV)

 

At least two predawn quakes rocked parts of Eastern Visayas Tuesday, but state seismologists said no damage to property or aftershock was expected.

 

Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) seismologist Dante Soneja said the first quake was recorded at Intensity III at 4:48 a.m.

 

"The quake occurred near Ormoc City. It was felt at Intensity III in Ormoc City and Cananga, Leyte," Soneja said on dzBB radio.

 

He said the quake was tectonic in origin, and its epicenter was initially traced to 17 km northeast of Ormoc City.

 

Soneja said a second quake occurred at 5:18 a.m., and was felt at Intensity II in Ormoc City and Cananga, Leyte. But he said an aftershock was not likely, since an Intensity III quake is too weak to generate one.

 

RSJ, GMANews

 

 

FOUND NO NEWS ABOUT THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON THE FILIPINO GMA News.TV OR ON TEXT-TV IN DENMARK, SWEDEN, GERMANY AND ENGLAND.

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation in Southeast Asia and Haiti on 24.2.10

 

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 24 FEBRUARY 2010

 

German ZDF Text:

UN's DEATH TOLL ESTIMATE ABOVE 222,000 IN EARTHQUAKE IN HAITI

Now 6 weeks have passed since the devastating earthquake in Haiti on 12 January 2010. According to the latest estimate by the Haitian civil defense authority, the death toll in the earthquake on 12 January is 222,517, and this figure has been communicated by OCHA = The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Port-au-Prince. Haiti's President Réné Préval has said that the government expects the death toll to be up to 300,000. According to the UN, 226,408 people died in the tsunami in Asia in 2004.

 

Swedish SVT Text: MORE DEAD IN HAITI THAN IN THE TSUNAMI

The official death toll after the earth quake in Haiti on 12 January continues to rise. The number of deaths have reached 222,517 according to the UN referring to Haiti's civil defense authority. This is 5,000 more than a week ago. The new figure means that the quake in Haiti cost more human lives than the tsunami disaster in the Pacific in 2004 when about 220,000 people died. The death toll is expected to rise to more than 300,000 according to Haiti's President Réne Préval.

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UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN INDONESIA ON 24 FEBRUARY 2010

 

Swedish SVT Text: MANY FEARED DEAD AFTER LANDSLIDE IN INDONESIA

More than 70 are feared dead in a landslide in South of Indonesia's capital Jakarta. According to a police spokesman 7 dead bodies have been recovered. 64 persons are believed to be buried underground. The landslide was triggered by heavy rain. Landslides are normal in the area during the rainy season. More than 300 rescuers are now looking for those missing. The chance of finding survivors is almost non-existent.

 

Danish TV2 Text: 70 FEARED BURIED IN LANDSLIDE IN INDONESIA

An enormous landslide on the Indonesian island of JAVA has so far cost 7 human lives. More than 70 are feared killed, because 64 persons have not yet been found according to local authorities. "The landslide is very deep and right now the chance of finding survivors is almost non-existent, says a spokesman for the local police.

The landslide hit a tea plantation in the village of Ciwidey South of the capital Jakarta not far away from the city Bandung. About 35 houses were swept away and crushed by the landslide.

 

Danish DR1Text-TV: MORE THAN 70 FEARED KILLED IN INDONESIA

There has been an enormous landslide on the Indonesian island of JAVA, and more than 70 are feared killed. More than 300 rescuers with excavators have been sent to the area. The accident has been triggered by several days of heavy rain causing enormous floods in the region.

 

 

TOLL TO RISE IN DEADLY INDONESIA LANDSLIDE

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8533400.stm

 

Up to 70 people are feared dead after being trapped under piles of mud when a landslide hit a village near the Indonesian city of Bandung.

 

Heavy rain forced rescue efforts to stop for the night but they resumed after lifting equipment arrived.

 

Before that, villagers tried to dig victims out with their bare hands. At least 16 people are known to be dead in Tuesday's landslide, which buried the village in the Ciwidey district on the Java island after days of rain.

 

TREE PLANTATION

About 600 villagers have been moved to makeshift tents amid fears of further landslides because of the bad weather.

 

Rescuers - helped by police and soldiers - have dug out 16 bodies on Wednesday.

National Disaster Management Agency spokesman Priyadi Kardono said another 15 people had been injured, two of whom had been admitted to hospital.

"The landslide is very deep. At this point, the chance of pulling out victims alive is slim," said West Java police spokesman Dade Ahmad.

 

About 500 rescuers, including officers from the Brimob special police force, are searching for victims buried on the tea plantation near Ciwidey village, about 35km (22 miles) southwest of Bandung city.

 

"We have six sniffer dogs on site and rescuers are digging manually using hoes and light cutting equipment to reach victims," Mr Ahmad added.

Indonesian Vice-President Boediono and several ministers are expected to visit the disaster area.

 

This region has been seeing particularly heavy rains for the time of year, with scores of people escaping from their homes to safety.

 

Landslides are common in Indonesia, where years of deforestation can often leave hillsides vulnerable to collapse.

 

According to environmentalists, tropical downpours can quickly soak hills stripped of vegetation which had held the soil in place.

 

 

46 FEARED DEAD IN LANDSLIDE IN INDONESIA

 

(02/24/2010 | 08:36 PM - GMA News.TV)

 

CIWIDEY, Indonesia – Rescuers used heavy digging equipment Wednesday to move tons of dislodged clay strewn with splintered remnants of upended houses after a mudslide on Indonesia's main island of Java buried dozens, leaving at least 46 dead or missing, officials said.

 

Officials had earlier said 72 had probably died but later revised the figure down. At least 17 bodies have been pulled from the rubble, but many more are believed trapped.

 

"It seems there is no possibility of anyone among those 46 surviving," said National Disaster Management Agency spokesman Priyadi Kardono. The true toll could be higher.

 

Days of heavy rain prompted the landslide Tuesday at a mountainous tea plantation near the village of Tenjoljaya in Ciwidey district of West Java province.

 

Some village houses and plantation buildings survived unscathed above where terraced rows of tea plants cleaved off the hillside and slid to a plain below.

 

Scores of houses as well as the plantation office and warehouse were rolled and crushed as they slid down the hillside with a swath of top soil and mud hundreds of yards (meters) wide.

 

Around 600 terrified survivors fled their hillside homes for tents on safer ground, fearing more of the mountainside would collapse under the continuing soaking rain, Kardono said.

 

Soldiers carried victims in orange body bags back up the hill through the tea plants to be identified. By late Wednesday, 17 bodies had been recovered, Kardono said.

 

Many of the victims were plantation laborers who lived in huts on the plantation.

Most of the recovered bodies of men, women and a child were dug up from the residential area.

 

Villagers unearthed the first victims late Tuesday using farm tools and bare hands.

 

More than 100 soldiers, policemen, and Red Cross volunteers joined the search effort on Wednesday supported by two excavators. But the search was postponed Wednesday afternoon due to heavy rain.

 

Vice President Boediono, who like many Indonesians goes by only one name, visited the site Wednesday, accompanied by several government ministers.

 

Landslides are a common hazard in Indonesia during the current latter weeks of the monsoon season.

- AP

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NO FILIPINO VICTIM IN PORTUGAL FLOODS - DFA

 

(02/24/2010 | 07:27 PM - GMA News.TV)

 

There was no Filipino casualty in the FLASH FLOODS and MUDSLIDES that swept MADEIRA Island in PORTUGAL last February 20, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Wednesday.

 

Citing a report from Philippine Ambassador to Lisbon Teresa Barsana, the DFA said there is no record of Filipinos living in the Madeira area.

 

“Nevertheless, if there are Filipinos who are in need of assistance, the Embassy is ready to help them," Barsana said in an article on the DFA Web site.

 

The DFA also cited reports from Philippine honorary consul Manuel Pinhiero that no Filipino has so far asked for assistance due to the floods.

 

The DFA cited news reports showing the DEATH TOLL from the FLASH FLOODS and MUDSLIDES on MADEIRA Island continued to rise, with officials saying at least 42 people had died.

 

At least eight villages remained out of reach as of February 21.

 

Portuguese authorities began rushing aid to the tourist island off the African coast Saturday night, dispatching a Navy frigate and preparing a Hercules C-130 transport plane loaded with rescue teams, divers, and equipment to clear blocked roads, replace destroyed bridges, and repair downed power and telephone lines.

 

Portuguese Prime Minister José Sócrates flew to the Madeira, about 900 kilometers southwest of the Portuguese mainland, late Saturday to meet with regional government officials, pledging Lisbon’s full support.

 

- KBK, GMANews.TV

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation in Haiti - articles on 25 February 2010

 

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 25 FEBRUARY 2010

 

I did not find anything of interest in relation to the Haiti earthquake when reading text-TV from Germany, England, Sweden and Denmark. Nor did I find anything on the Filipino GMA News.TV.

 

But I found an interesting article from BBCworldNews (see below):

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8536561.stm

 

LESSONS TO BE LEARNED FROM HAITI's TSUNAMI

 

By Victoria Gill, Science reporter, BBC News, Portland

 

THROUGH ALL THE DEVASTATION, ANOTHER SMALL BUT DEADLY EVENT IN HAITI ALMOST SLIPPED UNDER THE RADAR.

 

Researchers have discovered that January's huge quake triggered a tsunami.

 

Along with four Haitian colleagues, Dr Hermann Fritz, a civil engineering professor from the Georgia Institute of Technology, US, travelled around the coast of Haiti gathering evidence about this wave.

 

He wanted to find out what had happened before the perishable evidence disappeared forever.

 

He had heard reports and saw evidence that a wave up to 3m high had hit some areas of the coast south of the capital following the quake near Port au Prince.

It had claimed at least three lives and engulfed buildings.

 

Dr Fritz presented some of his findings at the Ocean Sciences meeting in Portland in the US.

 

"This was a relatively small event," he told BBC News. "Most of the fatalities were due to the earthquake, but at least three victims we know of survived the earthquake were hit by the wave."

 

These three victims were a father and his two young sons. They were standing close to the shore in Petit Paradis, watching the wave instead of heading for higher ground.

 

"And on the border [with the Dominican Republic], fishermen were taking photos and videos of the draw-down of the sea," he said.

 

This ominous draw-back in the water level is a classic sign that a big wave is approaching (although it should be said not all tsunamis are preceded by such behaviour).

 

"It demonstrated a lack of [tsunami] education," Dr Fritz said. "It was pure luck that the misinformation did not kill more people in this case."

 

Despite the devastation it caused, the Haiti earthquake was not of the type or magnitude usually associated with tsunamis. It had a magnitude of 7.0.

 

"Generally anything over 7.5 is cause for concern," explained Eddie Bernard, a tsunami researcher from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa).

 

"But anything between seven and 7.5 can cause smaller, local tsunamis."It also occurred on land and, to generate a tsunami, an event must be under the sea.

 

"Anything that moves the water generates a wave," said Dr Bernard. "And the deeper the event, the bigger the wave."

 

Dr Fritz explained that the main causes of the Haitian tsunami were "local landslides".

 

"But there are FAULT LINES in this region that are in areas where you are more likely to generate a tsunami and, if you have a much bigger landslide going off submarine, you could have a much bigger wave," he said.

 

"In the north of Hispaniola, we have fault lines running along very deep water."

 

In 1946, a Magnitude 8.1 earthquake hit the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti. It produced a tsunami that killed almost 2,000 people.

 

In the Caribbean, Dr Bernard explained, most tsunamis were likely to be small and localised. "But there will be few exceptions," he said.

 

"The scientific community only has the relatively short historical record, rather than the geological record, so we don't know all of the trends."

 

And people in Haiti were not aware of the signs that suggested a tsunami was on the way.

 

Dr Fritz said: "Education is critical to local tsunamis. Once you see the water draw down, you really shouldn't be there taking pictures.

 

"There were no tsunami warning signs in Haiti along the beaches that you see in some other Caribbean countries. It's vital to educate locals and tourists about what to do."

 

DISASTER WARNING

 

But the Haitian tsunami gave scientists a chance to find out how well vital and potentially life-saving warning systems were working.

 

Noaa's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory has developed a warning system that picks up signals of tsunamis directly from the sea-floor.

 

It is called Dart - the Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis.

 

If seismometers detect an earthquake, the Dart buoys will determine what is happening to sea levels, and whether a big wave might be on the way. This information is then sent via satellite to a central location which can organise an alert.

 

Within 50 minutes of the Haiti earthquake, this system was able to issue an alert to other countries in the Caribbean to say that a small tsunami had been triggered, and that it was unlikely to affect them.

 

Dr Bernard said: "The first 30 minutes following the earthquake, we have to rely on education.

 

"The critical aspects of this are: do you feel the earthquake; do you see the ocean draw down; and do you hear that loud roar? If so, you should run for higher ground.

 

"But after the first few minutes, it's crucial that we have the technology - the measurements to avoid unnecessary evacuation and tell people when it is safe to return."

 

Right now, there are 50 of these Dart buoys all over the globe - four of which are in the Caribbean.

 

Dr Bernard says that, with 75 to 100 buoys worldwide, this system could provide global tsunami warnings within one hour.

 

"That's for everywhere we know that tsunamis have happened. If we wanted to go to half an hour detection, we could probably double or quadruple that number," he said.

 

Of course, the infrastructure needs to be in place. In Haiti, the warning came in by telephone to a police station that had already collapsed.

 

Noaa has provided the system and the UN is co-ordinating the participation of affected countries in the Caribbean.

 

"The important thing is to build on the existing infrastructure for this type of event. So in Caribbean nations, that would be storm warning systems and forecasting. - "The warning could come into a local weather centre," Dr Bernard explained.

 

"In some countries, including Haiti, there may not be sufficient resources to support a [specific] TSUNAMI WARNING CENTRE for something that happens so infrequently."

 

He said that this system was relatively inexpensive to install and operate.

"To get it down to an hour for everywhere affected would cost $50m initial investment and then 10% of that to maintain it," he said. "That's not a terribly expensive system considering the potential savings of lives.

 

 

An article in the Danish free paper URBAN on 25 February 2010

 

HAITI's YOUNG PEOPLE LEND A HAND

 

22-year-old Marie-Sonyne is one among many voluntaries

 

By Dorte Hansen - [email protected] (translated by Nancy Boysen)

 

Many children in Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince were left puzzled and perplexed after having lost parents, family members and friends during the big earthquake that struck the capital in January.

 

In a little village more than 100 children are gathered trying for some hours to think of something else than the big losses they have suffered. One of the adults behind the rendezvous (= meeting-place) is the only 22-year-old MARIE-SONYNE. She was being trained as a teacher when the earthquake struck, and the earthquake stopped her studies for some time.

 

PSYCHOLOGICAL HELP FOR THE CHILDREN

"After the earthquake struck, the children came to us saying: "The schools are closed, what are we to do now?" Then eight of us formed a group to help them", she tells STEVEN THEOBALD from the development organization "Plan International".

 

Four days after the earthquake struck, Marie-Sonyne and the other members of the group carried out the first activities for the children who are encouraged to tell other people about their experiences so that they can cope with them.

 

Since then they have met twice a week. They make the children sing and dance, they are giving school lessons and telling stories. The first time 30 children attended, now more than 100 children attend.

 

SPONSOR CHILDREN

Since the quake Marie-Sonyne and more than 30 other voluntaries have participated in a workshop on providing psychological help arranged by Plan International. Being a child of poor parents, Marie-Sonyne has herself been one of Plan International's sponsor children in Haiti.

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation in Southeast Asia on 27.2.10

 

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN SOUTHEAST ASIA ON 26 - 27 FEBRUARY 2010

 

THE PHILIPPINES

 

MAGNITUDE-5.3 QUAKE ROCKS GENERAL SANTOS CITY

 

(02/27/2010 | 07:00 AM - GMA News.TV)

 

A magnitude-5.3 quake rocked General Santos City shortly after midnight Friday, with state seismologists warning of possible aftershocks.

 

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said the quake was recorded at 12:18 a.m., with the epicenter at 76 km southeast of General Santos City in the southern Philippines.

 

It said the quake was tectonic and was felt at Intensity IV in General Santos City.

 

While Phivolcs said no damage was expected, it said aftershocks were possible.

 

The United States Geological Survey added the epicenter was 75 km east-southeast of General Santos City; 140 km south of Davao; 1,110 km south-southeast of Manila; or 2,490 km east-northeast of Jakarta, Indonesia.

 

— LBG, GMANews

 

 

STRONG EARTHQUAKE, TSUNAMI WARNING IN SOUTH JAPAN

 

(02/27/2010 | 07:18 AM - GMA News.TV)

 

TOKYO – A magnitude 6.9 earthquake hit off Japan's southern coast early Saturday, shaking Okinawa and nearby islands, where a tsunami warning was briefly issued, Japan's Meteorological Agency said.

 

The quake occurred off the coast of the island of Okinawa at a depth of 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) at 5:31 a.m. Saturday (2031 GMT Friday), the agency said.

 

There have been no reports of major damage or casualties so far, except for reports of ruptured water pipes in two locations, Okinawa police official Noritomi Kikuzato said.

 

The Meteorological Agency had initially predicted a tsunami up to 6 feet (2 meters) near the Okinawan coast, warning nearby residents to stay away from the coastline. The agency later lifted the warning within two hours after observing only a small swelling of tide.

 

Ryota Ueno, a town official in the Nishihara district of Okinawa, said, "I was fast asleep when the quake hit, and I jumped out of bed. It felt like the shaking lasted forever."

 

There was no major damage in his house, and he then rushed to the town office to meet up with his colleagues and stand by in case of reports of damage from residents, Ueno told a telephone interview with public broadcaster NHK.

 

So far, only one resident in the town reported a ruptured water pipe, but no other damage reported, he said.

 

Masaaki Nakasone, another official at he Nanjo town, said his house shook violently but all furniture and other objects stayed intact.

 

"First there was a vertical shaking, then the house swayed sideways," Nakasone said.

 

Okinawa is about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) southwest of Tokyo.

 

Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries. In 1995, a magnitude-7.2 quake in the western port city of Kobe killed 6,400 people.

 

- AP

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation in Southeast Asia

 

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN THE PHILIPPINES ON 27 FEBRUARY 2010

 

For emergencies and reports on tsunami, contact the Philippine Red Cross at 527-0000 local 143

 

 

GENERAL SANTOS AND JAPAN QUAKES

 

Two separate earthquakes, both with relatively strong magnitudes, preceded the quake in Chile.

 

A magnitude-5.3 earthquake hit MINDANAO at 12:18 a.m. of Saturday, with the epicenter first traced 76 km southeast of GENERAL SANTOS CITY.

 

It was felt at Intensity IV in General Santos City, with no reported damage and aftershocks, Phivolcs said in an advisory.

 

Four hours after the southern Philippine quake, another one with a 6.9 magnitude rocked Japan's southern coast at about 5:31 a.m. local time (4:31 a.m. in Manila).

 

Apart from damaged water pipes in some areas in Okinawa, there were no reports of major structural damage or casualties, according to The Associated Press.

 

Phivolcs initially issued a Tsunami Alert Level at 4:46 a.m. but lifted it shortly after.

 

"When no observations are still reported for the next two hours, local authorities and the public can assume this minor threat has passed," Phivolcs said in its advisory earlier in the day.

 

- With Nikka Corsino/JV/TJD, GMANews.TV

 

 

MAGNITUDE-8.8 CHILE QUAKE TRIGGERS RP TSUNAMI ALERT 1

 

(MARK D. MERUEÑAS, GMANews.TV - 02/27/2010 | 06:33 PM)

 

(Update 2 - 10:00 p.m.) State seismologists on Saturday afternoon hoisted a TSUNAMI ALERT LEVEL 1 in the Philippines after a powerful 8.8-magnitude EARTHQUAKE hit south-central CHILE on the other side of the Pacific Ocean at 3:34 a.m. Saturday (2:34 p.m. Saturday in Manila).

 

Reports said that the Philippine Embassy officials and staff in the capital city of Santiago were all safe. Meanwhile, the Philippine Red Cross has alerted its chapters and volunteers to monitor coastal areas.

 

In an interview on ABS-CBN, Renato Solidum, director of the Philippine Institute for Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), said that if the Chile earthquake did generate tsunami waves powerful enough to cross the Pacific, they may be expected to hit Philippine coastlines sometime between 1:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. on Sunday.

 

The powerful quake rocked SOUTH-CENTRAL CHILE, KILLING at least 78 PEOPLE based on initial reports and also setting off a TSUNAMI as high as 1.29 METERS off the Pacific Ocean, according to Chilean officials.

 

Solidum said they are closely monitoring the situation on this side of the Pacific rim to determine if the tsunami triggered off Chile would reach Philippine shores.

 

"We are monitoring if the tsunami will reach the Philippines. But as a precautionary measure, we are raising a TSUNAMI ALERT LEVEL 1," said Solidum.

 

He said the Phivolcs was prompted to raise the alert at about 3:10 p.m. Saturday based on a lesson learned from a more powerful 9.5-magnitude EARTHQUAKE IN MAY 1960 that also hit CHILE. (See Wikipedia article on the 1960 Valdivia earthquake)

 

The resulting tsunami made it to the Philippine coastlines more than 24 hours after the earthquake struck the South American nation, Solidum said over radio dzBB.

 

Accounts by villagers in Samar and Surigao provinces—the areas in the country most affected by that tsunami—claimed that the huge wall of water reached as high as six meters, he added.

 

The Phivolcs official, however, clarified that a Tsunami Alert Level 1 does not yet mean people living near the country's Pacific coastlines are advised to evacuate to higher ground. - "We just have to wait for further information," he said.

 

Solidum stressed that evacuations are only necessary once a Tsunami Alert Level 3 has been raised. He advised people, especially those living in the eastern part of the Philippines, to be on the alert for any further announcements from Phivolcs.

 

In its latest advisory, Phivolcs identified 19 areas along the east coast of the Philippines as AREAS OF CONCERN:

 

Batanes Group of Islands

Cagayan

Ilocos Norte

Isabela

Quezon

Aurora

Camarines Norte

Camarines Sur

Albay

Catanduanes

Sorsogon

Northern Samar

Eastern Samar

Leyte

Southern Leyte

Surigao del Norte

Surigao del Sur

Davao Oriental

Davao del Sur

 

"While no evacuation order is in effect, communities along these coasts are advised to prepare for possible evacuation," Phivolcs said.

 

The earthquake in Chile happened at 3:34 a.m. local time (2:34 p.m. Saturday in Manila) and lasted for a minute and a half. Power and communication lines remained down in Chile's capital of Santiago, The Associated Press reported.

 

RP Embassy staff are safe

 

Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesperson Ed Malaya said the six fatalities initially reported did not include a Filipino, according to a separate radio dzMM report.

 

In another texted message from Malaya on Saturday evening, he assured the public that the DFA was able to communicate with Minister Narciso Castaneda of the Philippine Embassy in Chile, who in turn reported that Ambassador Puyat Reyes and the rest of the embassy staff members are safe.

 

Castañeda's report said that Ambassador Reyes' residence in the capital city of Santiago sustained some damage, but otherwise no one was hurt among his household. He added that electricity is down in his district.

 

Malaya said that as per DFA records, there are 89 Filipinos residing or working in Chile. A check with the POEA website showed that there were 158 Filipinos working in Chile as of December 2008.

 

- With Nikka Corsino/JV/TJD, GMANews.TV

 

 

ASIA BRACES FOR TSUNAMI AFTER CHILE QUAKE

 

(ERIC TALMADGE, Associated Press Writer - 02/28/2010 | 12:30 AM - GMA News.TV)

 

TOKYO — Wide swaths of the south Pacific, Asia and Australia braced for a tsunami after a devastating earthquake hit the coast of Chile on Saturday.

 

Officials in Japan and Australia warned a TSUNAMI from the earthquake was likely to hit ASIAN, AUSTRALIAN and NEW ZEALAND SHORES WITHIN 24 HOURS. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii issued a TSUNAMI WARNING that included the PHILIPPINES, TAIWAN, INDONESIA, and many island nations in the Pacific. A lower-level advisory that a tsunami was possible was issued for northern Pacific locations, including the U.S. West Coast and Alaska.

 

"Sea-level readings confirm that a tsunami has been generated which could cause widespread damage," the center said in a bulletin after the magnitude-8.8 quake. "Authorities should take appropriate action to respond to this threat."

 

The center noted that the first waves after a quake are not necessarily the largest and said tsunami wave heights are difficult to predict because they can vary significantly along a coast due to the local topography.

 

Earthquakes across the Pacific have had deadly effects on Asia in the past.

 

A TSUNAMI after a magnitude-9.5 QUAKE that struck CHILE IN 1960, THE LARGEST EARTHQUAKE EVER RECORDED, KILLED about 140 PEOPLE in JAPAN, 61 in HAWAII and 32 in the PHILIPPINES. That tsunami was about 3.3 to 13 feet (one to four meters) in height, Japan's Meteorological Agency said.

 

The tsunami from Saturday's quake was likely to be much smaller because the quake itself was not as strong.

 

Japanese public broadcaster NHK quoted earthquake experts as saying the tsunami would likely be tens of centimeters (inches) high and reach Japan in about 22 hours. A tsunami of 28 centimeters (11 inches) was recorded after a magnitude-8.4 earthquake near Chile in 2001.

 

The Meteorological Agency said it was still investigating the likelihood of a tsunami from the magnitude-8.8 quake and did not issue a formal coastal warning.

 

Australia, meanwhile, was put on a tsunami watch./COLOR]

 

The Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Center issued a warning for a "potential tsunami threat" to New South Wales state, Queensland state, Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island. Any potential wave would not hit Australia until Sunday morning local time, it said.

 

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology issued a low-level alert saying people should await further notice of a possible tsunami. It did not recommend evacuations.

 

The earthquake that struck early Saturday in central Chile shook the capital for a minute and a half.

 

—AP

 

 

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 27 FEBRUARY 2010

 

Swedish SVT Text (page 134):

 

THE FUTURE OF THE HOMELESS BEING PLANNED IN HAITI

Haiti's prime minister has consented to a plan to try to make the homeless leave the temporary camps and return to where they came from.The new strategy is triggered by concerns for the serious situation Haiti is facing with 1.2 million homeless and the imminent rainy season. According to the UN the camps must be emptied due to the lack of latrins and because the camps are situated in the areas threatened by floods. It has been very difficult to move people because many homes have been ravaged.

 

Danish TV2 News / Live brings the same news. The reason why the government asks people in the temporary camps to "go home" and "leave the camps" is the fear of outbreak of diseases such as cholera when the rainy season begins. There are also concerns for contaminated water resources.

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation in Southeast Asia / JAPAN

 

POWERFUL EARTHQUAKE STRIKES OFF JAPAN ISLAND OF OKINAWA

 

Page last updated at 00:10 GMT, Saturday, 27 February 2010

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8540063.stm

 

A POWERFUL EARTHQUAKE has struck in the PACIFIC OCEAN, about 80km (50 miles) off the southern Japanese island of OKINAWA.

 

A tsunami warning was initially issued, but later lifted. There are no reports of major damage or casualties.

 

The Japan Meteorological Agency gave the strength as 6.9 while the US Geological Survey put it at 7.3.

 

Japan is often hit by earthquakes. In 1995, a magnitude-7.2 QUAKE in the port city of KOBE KILLED 6,400 people.

 

The latest tremor occurred at 05:31 on Saturday (20:31 GMT on Friday).

 

BBC News website reader Ivan Brackin, who lives on Yoron Island, said it was the biggest quake he had felt in his 40 years in Japan but there had been no visible effects in his area.

 

"We're 30 yards [metres] from the sea and no sign of a tsunami," he said.

"I woke up to violent shudders that lasted about six seconds then a pause followed by a couple of sharp jumps. Jumpers are the most dangerous so that sent me under the desk."

[nancyk58]

Latest on the tsunami and HAWAII on 28.2.10

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/quake_tsunami

 

Tsunami warning center cancels alert for Hawaii

 

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has canceled its tsunami warning for Hawaii, with the state apparently escaping the roiling waves unscathed.

 

Gov. Linda Lingle says no damage has been reported in any county. Tidal surges were observed Saturday along the coasts but did not roar ashore. She's calling it "a great day now that it's over."

 

 

CHILE STRUCK BY ONE OF THE STRONGEST EARTHQUAKES EVER

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/lt_chile_earthquake

 

By ROBERTO CANDIA and EVA VERGARA, Associated Press Writers Roberto Candia And Eva Vergara, Associated Press Writers – 44 mins ago

 

TALCA, Chile – One of the largest earthquakes ever recorded tore apart houses, bridges and highways in central Chile on Saturday and sent a tsunami racing halfway around the world. Chileans near the epicenter were tossed about as if shaken by a giant, and authorities said at least 214 people were dead.

 

The magnitude-8.8 QUAKE was felt as far away as Sao Paulo in Brazil — 1,800 miles (2,900 kilometers) to the east. The full extent of damage remained unclear as scores of AFTERSHOCKS — one nearly as powerful as Haiti's devastating Jan. 12 earthquake — shuddered across the DISASTER-PRONE ANDEAN NATION.

 

President Michelle Bachelet declared a "STATE OF CATASTROPHE" in central Chile but said the government has not asked for assistance from other countries. If it does, President Barack Obama said, the United States "will be there." Around the world, leaders echoed his sentiment.

 

In Chile, newly built apartment buildings slumped and fell. Flames devoured a prison. Millions of people fled into streets darkened by the failure of power lines. The collapse of bridges tossed and crushed cars and trucks, and complicated efforts to reach quake-damaged areas by road.

 

At least 214 PEOPLE were KILLED, according to Interior Minister Edmundo Perez Yoma, and officials said about 1.5 million homes suffered at least some damage.

 

In Talca, just 65 miles (105 kilometers) from the epicenter, people sleeping in bed suddenly felt like they were flying through major airplane turbulence as their belongings cascaded around them from the shuddering walls at 3:34 a.m. (1:34 a.m. EST, 0634 GMT).

 

A deafening roar rose from the convulsing earth as buildings groaned and clattered. The sound of screams was confused with the crash of plates and windows.

 

Then the earth stilled, silence returned and a smell of moist dust rose in the streets, where stunned survivors took refuge.

 

A journalist emerging into the darkened street scattered with downed power lines saw a man, some of his own bones apparently broken, weeping and caressing the hand of a woman who had died in the collapse of a cafe. Two other victims lay dead a few feet (meters) away.

Also near the epicenter was CONCEPCION, one of the country's largest cities, where a 15-story building collapsed, leaving a few floors intact.

 

"I was on the 8th floor and all of a sudden I was down here," said Fernando Abarzua, marveling that he escaped with no major injuries. He said a relative was still trapped in the rubble six hours after the quake, "but he keeps shouting, saying he's OK."

 

Chilean state television reported that 209 inmates escaped from prison in the city of Chillan, near the epicenter, after a fire broke out.

 

In the capital of Santiago, 200 miles (325 kilometers) to the northeast, a car dangled from a collapsed overpass, the national Fine Arts Museum was badly damaged and an apartment building's two-story parking lot pancaked, smashing about 50 cars whose alarms rang incessantly.

 

While most modern buildings survived, a bell tower collapsed on the Nuestra Senora de la Providencia church and several hospitals were evacuated due to damage.

 

Santiago's airport was closed, with smashed windows, partially collapsed ceilings and destroyed pedestrian walkways in the passenger terminals. The capital's subway was shut as well, and transportation was further limited because hundreds of buses were stuck behind a damaged bridge.

 

Chile's main seaport, in Valparaiso about 75 miles (120 kilometers) from Santiago, was ordered closed while damage was assessed. The state-run Codelco, the world's largest copper producer, shut two of its mines, the newspaper La Tercera reported.

 

The jolt set off a TSUNAMI that swamped San Juan Bautista village on Robinson Crusoe Island off Chile, KILLING AT LEAST FIVE PEOPLE and LEAVING 11 MISSING, said Guillermo de la Masa, head of the government emergency bureau for the Valparaiso region. He said the huge waves also damaged several government buildings on the island.

 

It then raced across the Pacific, setting off alarm sirens in Hawaii, Polynesia and Tonga and prompting warnings across all 53 nations ringing the vast ocean.

 

Tsunami waves washed across Hawaii, where little damage was reported. The U.S. Navy moved a half-dozen vessels out of Pearl Harbor as a precaution, Navy spokesman Lt. Myers Vasquez said. Shore-side Hilo International Airport was closed. In CALIFORNIA, officials said a 3-foot (1-meter) surge in Ventura Harbor pulled loose several navigational buoys.

 

About 13 million people live in the area where shaking was strong to severe, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. USGS geophysicist Robert Williams said the Chilean quake was hundreds of times more powerful than Haiti's magnitude-7 quake, though it was deeper and cost far fewer lives.

 

More than 50 AFTERSHOCKS topped magnitude 5, including one of magnitude 6.9.

 

The largest earthquake ever recorded struck the same area of Chile on May 22, 1960. The magnitude-9.5 quake killed 1,655 people and left 2 million homeless. It caused a tsunami that killed people in Hawaii, Japan and the Philippines and caused damage along the west coast of the United States.

 

Saturday's quake matched a 1906 temblor off the Ecuadorean coast as the seventh-strongest ever recorded in the world.

 

Associated Press writer Roberto Candia reported this story from Talca and Eva Vergara from Santiago. AP writers Eduardo Gallardo in Santiago and Sandy Kozel in Washington contributed to this report.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/quake_tsunami

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation in Southeast Asia

 

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN SOUTHEAST ASIA ON 28 FEBRUARY 2010

 

Danish TV2: Tsunami alert now lifted

 

Danish TV2: 320,000 people were evacuated in Japan. There have been up to 120 cm high tidal waves in Japan. The Eastern part of Russia was hit by waves, but the waves were not so violent as feared.

 

 

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 28 FEBRUARY 2010

 

SVT Text: 11 DEAD IN HAITI FLOOD

FLOODS and LANDSLIDES hit southwestern Haiti yesterday. 11 killed and 500 inmates evacuated.

Haiti's third-largest city of Les Cayes that avoided destruction in the January earthquake was swamped by up to 1.5 m of water. The water in the prison rose by ½ meter.

5 were killed in the district of Geli near Les Cayes and 3 in the town of Torbeck. 3 are reported dead elsewhere in the region. The floods may be an indication of what the capital - Port-au-Prince - can expect during the rainy season which begins in 3 weeks.

 

BBC World News: RAIN TRIGGERS DEADLY FLOODS IN HAITI

At least eight people have been killed in floods triggered by heavy rain in Haiti, officials have said. The deaths occurred in or near the southeastern port city of Les Cayes which was swamped by more than 1.5 m (5 ft) of water.

Buildings were affected including a hospital and a prison where more than 100 inmates were evacuated.

About 1 million Haitians are still homeless after January's devastating earthquake which killed up to 230,000 people.

 

The floods have come several weeks ahead of Haiti's traditional rainy season.

 

"The situation is grave... whole areas are completely flooded. People have climbed on to the roofs of their homes," local senator Francky Exius told AFP news agency.

 

Witnesses said some homes had collapsed and people were fleeing for safer areas. At least two people are reported missing in the floods. One report puts the death toll at 11.

 

Staff at the flooded hospital in Les Cayes moved patients to the safety of higher floors, reports say, while UN peacekeepers helped police to evacuate the jail.

 

Les Cayes lies on a peninsula 160km (100 miles) west of the capital Port-au-Prince.

It was unaffected by the earthquake, but its 70,000 population has been swollen by survivors fleeing from earthquake-hit areas.

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation on 28 February 2010 / the tsunami

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8542122.stm

 

- Page last updated at 19:02 - GMT, Sunday, 28 February 2010

 

CHILEAN QUAKE TOLL JUMPS TO 708

 

The DEATH TOLL from Chile's earthquake has more than doubled to 708 and is expected to rise further, President Michelle Bachelet has said.

 

Previously about 300 people were estimated to have been killed in Saturday's 8.8 magnitude quake - one of the most powerful recorded.

Massive damage is hampering rescue teams as they struggle to reach those still buried in the rubble.

However a Pacific-wide alert for a tsunami has been lifted.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Ms Bachelet said: "The catastrophe is enormous. The latest number I have is 708 dead."

She said 541 had died in Maule region, 64 in Biobio and 103 and other regions.

She added that the number of people missing was growing.

Earlier, President Bachelet said two million people had been affected by the earthquake. Many Chileans in affected areas have spent the first night since the earthquake outdoors, afraid to stay inside.

In the central city of Concepcion, in the worst-hit area, police used tear gas and water cannon against looters at a supermarket.

The mayor of the city said food was running out and the situation was getting out of control.

Officials said 25 people were rescued from a collapsed building in Concepcion, but dozens who were believed to have been trapped inside were still unaccounted for.

 

During Sunday's news conference, Ms Bachelet announced a series of emergency steps:

The Maule and Concepcion regions are being placed under special rules to speed up the delivery of aid.

The air force will fly supplies to both areas and the military will take a leading role in distributing them

In Maule and Biobio basic goods will be handed out free of charge. Distribution points are yet to be decided.

Electricity is a big concern and the government is working to guarantee distribution

Santiago's airport has reopened, with a total of five international flight due to arrive on Sunday. It had been closed because of damage to the terminal and control tower.

 

Tsunami reaches Japanese coast

A tsunami more than one metre (3 feet) high has hit Japan's northern Pacific coast, nearly 24 hours after the powerful earthquake in Chile.

Thousands of people were earlier told to leave coastal areas after predictions bigger waves could strike.

Other Pacific nations were hit by tsunamis, but the danger is now thought to have passed.

 

In Chile, the town of Talcahuano was badly damaged while five people were killed on the Juan Fernandez islands.

Fishing boats there were thrown out of the water in Talcahuano, and port facilities were damaged by a wave that US scientists said was 2.34m high.

The town lies about 115km (70 miles) south-west of the epicentre of Saturday's powerful earthquake.

Large waves struck Chile's Juan Fernandez island group, reaching halfway into one inhabited area and killing five people. Several more are missing.

Two aid ships are reported to be on their way.

 

Well prepared

Warning systems across the Pacific have improved since the 2004 Indonesia quake sparked a tsunami that killed nearly 250,000 people.

Nations and regions affected by the Pacific "Ring of Fire" all sounded alerts, trying to estimate the anticipated time of arrival of any tsunami following the earthquake, which struck on Saturday at 0634 GMT.

The first tsunami waves to reach Japan were reported to be just 10cm high, with a wave of 90cm following.

Officials later lifted a tsunami warning for Japan's coast, the first issued in more than 15 years.

The BBC's Roland Buerk in Tokyo says Japan has experienced many earthquakes of its own and was well prepared.

People in areas at risk were ordered to move to higher ground, train services running along the coast were suspended and steel gates across fishing harbours were shut.

In 1960 about 140 people were killed by a tsunami in Japan after a major earthquake in Chile.

Thousands of people also left coastal areas of the Philippines after warnings of a possible tsunami were spread by text message.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center had warned of "widespread damage" across the region following Saturday's quake, but later said waves were not as high as predicted.

A geophysicist at the centre, Gerard Fryer, told the BBC that the tsunami's impact was small because the earthquake occurred in shallow water.

The earthquake was "big enough to do significant damage, but not big enough to do anything large in the far field", he said.

 

'Ordinary stormy day'

Part of the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia were hit by a 4m (13ft) wave, but no casualties were reported.

In Tahiti, the tsunami waves were smaller, causing little damage.

New Zealand's Chatham Islands were hit by a wave of 1.5m and areas along the main North and South Islands experienced small surges with no reports of casualties or serious damage.

The tsunami warning has been downgraded there but the emergency management department spokesman said there could still be waves of up to 3m.

Sirens were sounded in Hawaii to alert residents to the tsunami threat several hours before waves were expected.

The first waves hit about 2200 GMT on Saturday, after water began moving away from the shore at Hilo Bay on the Big Island before returning.

But correspondents say that, although 8ft (2.5m) waves had been predicted, the islands experienced nothing noticeably different from an ordinary stormy day.

Hawaiian officials later lifted the tsunami warning.

Despite Australian warnings of "possible dangerous waves, strong ocean currents and foreshore flooding" on the east coast, swimmers and surfers flocked to Sydney's Bondi beach.

 

FROM OTHER NEWS SITES

Financial Times: More than 700 killed in Chilean quake

Telegraph: Chile earthquake: death toll climbs to 400

Bangkok Post: Japan well prepared for tsunami

The Independent Rescuers battle to save Chile earthquake victims

 

irishtimes.com - Last Updated: Sunday, February 28, 2010, 18:06

DEATH TOLL IN CHILE QUAKE RISES TO MORE THAN 750

The death toll from yesterday's 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile continued to rise today, with officials estimating more than 750 casualties.

More than 350 people were killed in the coastal town of CONSTITUCION, which was also hit by a tsunami, state television quoted emergency officials as saying.

Television images from the fishing port of Constitucion, about 350 km (220 miles) southwest of the capital Santiago, showed houses destroyed by the quake and a tsunami, which had washed large fishing boats onto land and flipped over cars.

The death toll from Saturday's 8.8-magnitude quake already stood at 400 before news of the devastation in Constitucion.

Chileans fearful of aftershocks camped outside today, as officials struggled to grasp the scale of damage to transport, energy and housing infrastructure. Two million people in Chile have been affected by the earthquake, said president Michelle Bachelet, adding that it would take officials several days to evaluate the "enormous quantity of damage".

Around 100 people are trapped under the rubble of a building that collapsed in the city of CONCEPCION in south-central Chile, the mayor said today.

 

Tsunami waves killed at least four people on Chile's Juan Fernandez islands and caused serious damage to the port town of Talcahuano.

Tsunami waves of up to 1.5 metres (5 ft) hit far-flung Pacific regions from the Russian far east and Japan to New Zealand's Chatham Islands today in the wake of one of the world's most powerful tremors in a century.

 

Hundreds of thousands of residents in JAPAN, NEW ZEALAND, the PHILIPPINES and RUSSIA's Kamchatka were told to evacuate after the quake but there were no immediate reports of damage.

 

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) put the country's highest tsunami so far at 1.2 metres in the port of Kuji, northeast Japan. Smaller waves hit a swathe of the country from the small island of Minamitori 1,950 km (1,200 miles) south of Tokyo to Hokkaido island in the north.

 

Japanese officials have ordered or advised some 570,000 households along the country's Pacific coast to evacuate and said it would be hours before evacuees could go home.

 

"The full-fledged tsunami waves are starting to arrive," University of Tokyo professor Yoshinobu Tsuji told NHK public TV. "This is not the last one," he said.

 

It was Japan's first major tsunami warning in 17 years and only the fourth since 1952, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

"Carelessness could be the biggest enemy," prime minister Yukio Hatoyama told reporters.

 

Train services were halted in many areas along the Pacific coast and many highways were closed. Two nuclear plants in the area were operating normally and Japan's Nippon Oil Corp said its 145,000 barrel-per-day Sendai refinery was also functioning as usual.

 

Police cars and fire trucks patrolled coastal roads and fishing boats, seeking to avoid any tsunami, headed out to sea under gray skies, with snow flurries in some areas.

 

The area that could be hit hardest, where around 140 people died in a previous tsunami 50 years ago, has many small harbours that could concentrate the force of a tsunami.

 

"We experienced tsunami 50 years ago. But it sounded like it could be worse this time, so I was afraid," said 69-year old Fumiko Nakajima in a fishing town on the outskirts of Sendai. She said the evacuation of residents, many of whom are elderly, went smoothly due to frequent drills.

 

The tsunami warning covered the eastern seaboard of Japan, although for Tokyo Bay and many other areas the warnings were for waves of only around one metre (3 ft).

 

The first waves to hit New Zealand were reported at the remote Chatham Islands, around 800km (500 miles) east of New Zealand, with surges of up to 1.5 metres measured, the Civil Defence Ministry said.

 

A resident on one of the smaller islands in the group, Pitt, said the surges were continuing and getting bigger.

 

"The bay empties right out. It takes about a minute and a half and then it surges back in, in about the same amount of time," Bernadette Malinson told Radio New Zealand. "The surges have been getting bigger - at least 2 metres at present."

 

Authorities in Russia's far eastern Kamchatka region lifted a tsunami alert after a series of small waves appeared to cause no damage, a spokeswoman for the Emergencies Ministry said.

 

A tsunami hit beaches in eastern Australian but there were not initial reports of damage.

Australia issued a tsunami alert for most of its east coast and eastern parts of the island state of Tasmania, but authorities said there were no concerns about major inundation.

 

Hawaii dodged serious damage yesterday when a tsunami merely lapped ashore, although residents were warned to stay away from coastal areas because the ocean could remain unsettled for several more hours.

Reuters

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation in CHILE / Comparation of Haiti and Chile earthquakes

 

Updates of news on 28.02.10 in relation to Chile earthquake

 

CHILE WAS READY FOR QUAKE, HAITI WASN'T

 

02/28/2010 | 09:50 AM

 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — The earthquake in Chile was far stronger than the one that struck Haiti last month — yet the death toll in this Caribbean nation is magnitudes higher.

 

The reasons are simple.

 

Chile is wealthier and infinitely better prepared, with strict building codes, robust emergency response and a long history of handling seismic catastrophes. No living Haitian had experienced a quake at home when the Jan. 12 disaster crumbled their poorly constructed buildings.

 

And Chile was relatively lucky this time.

 

Saturday's quake was centered offshore an estimated 21 miles (34 kilometers) underground in a relatively unpopulated area while Haiti's tectonic mayhem struck closer to the surface — about 8 miles (13 kilometers) — and right on the edge of Port-au-Prince, factors that increased its destructiveness.

 

"Earthquakes don't kill — they don't create damage — if there's nothing to damage," said Eric Calais, a Purdue University geophysicist studying the Haiti quake.

 

The U.S. Geological Survey says eight Haitian cities and towns — including this capital of 3 million — suffered "violent" to "extreme" shaking in last month's 7-magnitude quake, which Haiti's government estimates killed some 220,000 people. Chile's death toll was in the hundreds.

 

By contrast, no Chilean urban area suffered more than "severe" shaking — the third most serious level — Saturday in its 8.8-magnitude disaster, by USGS measure. The quake was centered 200 miles (325 kms) away from Chile's capital and largest city, Santiago.

 

In terms of energy released at the epicenter, the Chilean quake was 501 times stronger. But energy dissipates rather quickly as distances grow from epicenters — and the ground beneath Port-au-Prince is less stable by comparison and "shakes like jelly," says University of Miami geologist Tim Dixon.

 

Survivors of Haiti's quake described abject panic — much of it well-founded as buildings imploded around them. Many Haitians grabbed cement pillars only to watch them crumble in their hands. Haitians were not schooled in how to react — by sheltering under tables and door frames, and away from glass windows.

 

Chileans, on the other hand, have homes and offices built to ride out quakes, their steel skeletons designed to sway with seismic waves rather than resist them.

 

"When you look at the architecture in Chile you see buildings that have damage, but not the complete pancaking that you've got in Haiti," said Cameron Sinclair, executive director of Architecture for Humanity, a 10-year-old nonprofit that has helped people in 36 countries rebuild after disasters.

 

Sinclair said he has architect colleagues in Chile who have built thousands of low-income housing structures to be earthquake resistant.

 

In Haiti, by contrast, there is no building code.

 

Patrick Midy, a leading Haitian architect, said he knew of only three earthquake-resistant buildings in the Western Hemisphere's poorest country.

 

Sinclair's San Francisco-based organization received 400 requests for help the day after the Haiti quake but he said it had yet to receive a single request for help for Chile.

 

"On a per-capita basis, Chile has more world-renowned seismologists and earthquake engineers than anywhere else," said Brian E. Tucker, president of GeoHazards International, a nonprofit organization based in Palo Alto, California.

 

Their advice is heeded by the government in Latin America's wealthiest nation, getting built not just into architects' blueprints and building codes but also into government contingency planning.

 

"The fact that the president (Michelle Bachelet) was out giving minute-to-minute reports a few hours after the quake in the middle of the night gives you an indication of their disaster response," said Sinclair.

 

Most Haitians didn't know whether their president, Rene Preval, was alive or dead for at least a day after the quake. The National Palace and his residence — like most government buildings — had collapsed.

 

Haiti's TV, cell phone networks and radio stations were knocked off the air by the seismic jolt.

 

Col. Hugo Rodriguez, commander of the Chilean aviation unit attached to the U.N. peacekeeping force in Haiti, waited anxiously Saturday with his troops for word from loved ones at home.

 

He said he knew his family was OK and expressed confidence that Chile would ride out the disaster.

 

"We are organized and prepared to deal with a crisis, particularly a natural disaster," Rodriguez said. "Chile is a country where there are a lot of natural disasters." Calais, the geologist, noted that frequent seismic activity is as common to Chile as it is to the rest of the Andean ridge. Chile experienced the strongest earthquake on record in 1960, and Saturday's quake was the nation's third of over magnitude-8.7.

 

"It's quite likely that every person there has felt a major earthquake in their lifetime," he said, "whereas the last one to hit Port-au-Prince was 250 years ago." "So who remembers?" On Port-au-Prince's streets Saturday, many people had not heard of Chile's quake. More than half a million are homeless, most still lack electricity and are preoccupied about trying to get enough to eat.

 

Fanfan Bozot, a 32-year-old reggae singer having lunch with a friend, could only shake his head at his government's reliance on international relief to distribute food and water.

 

"Chile has a responsible government," he said, waving his hand in disgust. "Our government is incompetent."

— AP

 

 

CHILE ASSESSES DAMAGE FROM MAMMOTH EARTHQUAKE

 

02/28/2010 | 05:24 PM

 

TALCA, Chile — A weeping man strokes the hand of a dead woman in a collapsed cafe. Survivors huddle around bonfires in the rubble of their homes. Smashed cars lie beneath bridges torn asunder by one of history's strongest earthquakes.

 

Authorities in Chile put the official death toll from Saturday's 8.8-magnitude quake at 214, but said they believed the number would grow. They said 1.5 million Chileans were affected and 500,000 homes severely damaged by the mammoth temblor.

 

"We think the real [death] figure tops 300 and we believe this will continue to grow," said Carmen Fernandez, head of the National Emergency Agency.

 

President Michelle Bachelet, who leaves office on March 11, declared a "STATE OF CATASTROPHE" in central Chile. "It was a catastrophe of devastating consequences," she said.

 

Bachelet said the government had not asked for assistance from other countries. If it does, President Barack Obama said, the United States "will be there." Around the world, leaders echoed his sentiment.

 

As night fell Saturday, about a dozen men and children sat around a bonfire in the remains of their homes in Curico, a town 122 miles (196 kms) south of the capital, Santiago.

 

"We were sleeping when we felt the quake, very strongly. I got up and went out the door. When I looked back my bed was covered in rubble," said survivor Claudio Palma.

 

Fabian Miners, 22, was put in charge of tallying damages in Curico and surrounding villages. He said he had counted 90 deaths in the area, mainly people over 50 or 60 who could not get out of their falling adobe-walled homes in time.

 

Erika Vasquez, 28, said she and 14 of her relatives were sheltering under three small tarpaulins in the park in front of their collapsed home.

 

"They told us to go somewhere else, but all our things are here," said Vasquez, pointing at the rubble of what had been the family's home for 44 years.

 

The quake tore apart houses, bridges and highways, and Chileans near the epicenter were thrown from their beds by the force of the mega-quake, which was felt as far away as Sao Paulo in Brazil — 1,800 miles (2,900 kilometers) to the east.

 

The full extent of damage remained unclear as dozens of AFTERSHOCKS — one nearly as powerful as Haiti's devastating Jan. 12 earthquake — shuddered across the disaster-prone Andean nation.

 

The quake caused newly built apartment buildings to slump and fall. Power lines collapsed. Falling bridges tossed cars and trucks like toys.

 

In Talca, just 65 miles (105 kilometers) from the epicenter, people sleeping in bed suddenly felt like they were flying through airplane turbulence as their belongings cascaded down around them when the quake hit at 3:34 a.m.

 

A deafening roar rose from the convulsing earth as buildings groaned and clattered. The sound of screams mixed with the crash of plates and windows. Then the earth stilled and stunned survivors began streaming outside.

 

A journalist emerging into the darkened street scattered with downed power lines saw a man, some of his own bones apparently broken, weeping and caressing the hand of a woman who had died in a cafe. Two other victims lay dead a few feet (meters) away.

 

Also near the epicenter was CONCEPCION, one of the country's largest cities, where a 15-STORY BUILDING COLLAPSED, leaving a few floors intact.

 

In the capital Santiago, 200 miles (325 kilometers) to the northeast, the national Fine Arts Museum was badly damaged and an apartment building's two-story parking lot pancaked, smashing about 50 cars.

 

Santiago's airport was closed and its subway shut down. Chile's main seaport, in Valparaiso, was ordered closed while damage was assessed. Two oil refineries shut down. The state-run Codelco, the world's largest copper producer, halted work at two of its mines, but said it expected them to resume operations quickly.

 

The jolt set off a TSUNAMI that SWAMPED SAN JUAN BAUTISTA VILLAGE on ROBINSON CRUSOE ISLAND off Chile, killing at least five people and leaving 11 missing, said Guillermo de la Masa, head of the government emergency bureau for the Valparaiso region.

 

On the mainland, several huge waves inundated part of the major port city of Talcahuano, near hard-hit Concepcion. A large boat was swept more than a block inland.

 

The surge of water raced across the Pacific, setting off alarm sirens in Hawaii, Polynesia and Tonga, but the tsunami waves proved small and did little damage as they reached as far as Japan.

 

Robert Williams, a geophysicist at the US Geological Survey, said the CHILEAN QUAKE was hundreds of times MORE POWERFUL THAN HAITI's magnitude-7 QUAKE, though it was deeper and cost far fewer lives.

 

The largest earthquake ever recorded struck the same area of CHILE on MAY 22, 1960. The magnitude-9.5 QUAKE KILLED 1,655 people and made 2 MILLION HOMELESS. Saturday's quake matched a 1906 temblor off the Ecuadorean coast as the seventh-strongest ever recorded in the world. — AP

 

 

RESCUERS STRUGGLE TO SAVE LIVES AFTER CHILE QUAKE

 

02/28/2010 | 08:07 PM

 

CONCEPCION, Chile – Rescuers edged their way toward residents trapped in a toppled apartment block early Sunday and survivors huddled around bonfires in the rubble of their homes as the death toll in Chile continued to rise after one of the strongest earthquakes in history.

 

Authorities put the official death toll from Saturday's 8.8-magnitude QUAKE at 214, but said they believed the number would grow. They said 1.5 million Chileans were affected and 500,000 homes severely damaged by the mammoth temblor.

 

A tsunami caused by the quake that swept across the Pacific killed several people on a Chilean island but caused little damage in other countries. The tsunami warning was lifted a day after the earthquake.

 

President Michelle Bachelet, who leaves office March 11, declared a "state of catastrophe" in central Chile. "It was a catastrophe of devastating consequences," she said.

 

Police said MORE THAN 100 PEOPLE DIED IN CONCEPCION, the largest city near the epicenter with more than 200,000 people. The university was among the buildings that caught fire around the city as gas and power lines snapped. Many streets were littered with rubble from edifices, inmates escaped from a nearby prison and police warned that criminals had been looting stores.

 

The largest single damage involved a newly opened 11-story building that toppled backward, trapping an estimated 60 people inside apartments where the floors suddenly became vertical and the contents of every room slammed down onto rear walls.

 

"It fell at the moment the earthquake began," said 4th Lt. Juan Schulmeyer of Concepcion's 7th Firefighter Company, pointing to where the foundation collapsed. A full 24 hours later, only 16 people had been pulled out alive, and six bodies had been recovered.

 

Rescuers heard a woman call out at 11 p.m. Saturday from what seemed like the 6th floor, but hours later they were making slow progress in reaching her. Rescuers were working with two power saws and an electric hammer on a generator, but their supply of gas was running out and it was taking them a frustrating hour and a half to cut each hole through the concrete.

 

"It's very difficult working in the dark with AFTERSHOCKS, and inside it's complicated. The apartments are totally destroyed. You have to work with great caution," said Paulo Klein, who was leading a group of rescue specialists from Puerto Montt. They flew in on an air force plane with just the equipment they could carry. Heavy equipment was coming later along with 12 other rescuers.

 

The quake tore apart houses, bridges and highways, and Chileans near the epicenter were thrown from their beds by the force of the mega-quake, which was felt as far away as Sao Paulo in Brazil — 1,800 miles (2,900 kilometers) to the east.

 

The full extent of damage remained unclear as dozens of aftershocks — one nearly as powerful as Haiti's devastating Jan. 12 earthquake — shuddered across the disaster-prone Andean nation.

 

In the village of Reumen, a tractor trailer slammed into a dangling pedestrian overpass and 40 tons of concrete and steel crunched the truck, covering Chile's main highway with smashed grapes, tomatoes and cucumbers. The overpass was one of four that reporters saw that had been toppled along the highway.

 

Truck driver Jaime Musso, 53, thought his truck was being buffeted by strong winds and by the time he saw the overpass hanging down over Highway 5 there was no chance of stopping, so he aimed for the spot where he thought he would cause the least damage and brought down the overpass onto his truck. He said he survived "by millimeters."

 

As night fell Saturday, about a dozen men and children sat around a bonfire in the remains of their homes in Curico, a town 122 miles (196 kilometers) south of the capital, Santiago.

 

"We were sleeping when we felt the quake, very strongly. I got up and went out the door. When I looked back my bed was covered in rubble," said survivor Claudio Palma.

 

In the capital Santiago, 200 miles (325 kilometers) to the northeast of the epicenter, the national Fine Arts Museum was badly damaged and an apartment building's two-story parking lot pancaked, smashing about 50 cars.

 

Santiago's airport was closed and its subway shut down. Chile's main seaport, in Valparaiso, was ordered closed while damage was assessed. Two oil refineries shut down. The state-run Codelco, the world's largest copper producer, halted work at two of its mines, but said it expected them to resume operations quickly.

 

The jolt set off a tsunami that swamped San Juan Bautista village on Robinson Crusoe Island off Chile, killing at least five people and leaving 11 missing, said Guillermo de la Masa, head of the government emergency bureau for the Valparaiso region.

 

On the mainland, several huge waves inundated part of the major port city of Talcahuano, near hard-hit Concepcion. A large boat was swept more than a block inland.

 

The surge of water raced across the Pacific, setting off alarm sirens in Hawaii, Polynesia and Tonga, but the tsunami waves proved small and did little damage as they reached as far as Japan.

 

Robert Williams, a geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey, said the Chilean quake was hundreds of times more powerful than Haiti's magnitude-7 quake, though it was deeper and cost far fewer lives.

 

The largest earthquake ever recorded struck the same area of Chile on May 22, 1960. The magnitude-9.5 quake killed 1,655 people and made 2 million homeless. Saturday's quake matched a 1906 temblor off the Ecuadorean coast as the seventh-strongest ever recorded in the world.

– AP

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation on 1 March 2010

 

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN CHILE ON 1 MARCH 2010

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8542789.stm

 

 

SHAKEN SANTIAGO COUNTS ITSELF LUCKY

 

(page last updated at 07:55 GMT, Sunday, 28 February 2010)

 

By Gideon Long, BBC News, Santiago

 

Although the quake struck at 3.30 in the morning, I was still awake, enjoying a party with friends in a beach house some 200km (125 miles) north-west of the capital, Santiago.

 

What struck me was not so much the intensity of the quake but its duration.

It started as an almost indiscernible trembling of the glasses and the furniture in the room, and it grew and grew for what seemed like an eternity.

 

The lights went out and we realised this was no minor tremor.

 

We ran out of the house, heading for open space.

 

Every car alarm in the street was sounding; the trees were quivering and I remember looking up and seeing the telephone lines swaying back and forth as if blown by a gale force wind.

 

It felt like we were at the epicentre, and it was only hours later that we found out that the real eye of the storm was around 500km further south, close to Chile's second city, Concepcion.

 

If we felt it this strongly here, what must it have felt like at the epicentre, I wondered.

 

SILENT AND DARK

 

Later, I made it back from the coast to Santiago, through Chile's main port of Valparaiso.

 

There, piles of rubble littered the streets and people had largely deserted the lower reaches of the city, fearing a tsunami.

 

In Santiago itself, whole areas of the city were still in darkness; tower blocks, usually ablaze with light after dusk, were spookily dark, with no electricity and no running water.

 

There were cars on the streets, but not many, and their owners were driving cautiously through a city suddenly deprived of its traffic lights.

 

I drove past my local church - largely intact, but missing its dome, which had crashed to the ground when the quake struck.

 

I reached my apartment building, silent and dark.

 

The door was hanging off its hinges, there were cracks in the walls, and flakes of plaster littered the floor. No light, no running water - a pattern repeated across this city of six million people.

 

But here in Santiago we can count ourselves lucky. Television images from the cities of CONCEPCION, CONSTITUTION, TALCAHUANO and CURICÓ, close to epicentre, show just how devastating this quake has been.

 

Highways have been sliced in two and road bridges have collapsed.

It's still not clear how many people have died or what the extent of the damage is.

 

President Michelle Bachelet has spoken to the nation and confirmed that two million people - an eighth of the population - have been affected by the quake which, with a magnitude of 8.8, was one of the strongest recorded.

 

More than 300 have died and many more are missing.

 

Fortunately, the Chileans are good at dealing with earthquakes. They have to be: they have a long history of them.

 

Help has been reaching the stricken areas of the south and Santiago is just about functioning again.

 

But even so, it will be weeks, if not months, before the country returns to anything like normality, and for some areas, it will take much, much longer than that.

 

 

CHILE TROOPS TACKLE QUAKE LOOTERS

 

The Chilean military is attempting to restore order in the country's second city, Concepcion, amid looting after Saturday's devastating earthquake.

 

Troops have fired tear gas at looters attempting to flee with food and other goods from wrecked stores, as a major rescue effort is under way in the city.

The death toll of 708 from the 8.8-magnitude quake is expected to rise.

The United Nations has said it will rush aid deliveries to Chile after the government asked for help.

 

UN spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said Chile had requested field hospitals with surgery facilities, mobile bridges, communications equipment, kitchens, and disaster assessment and co-ordination teams.

 

In COASTAL TOWNS AND VILLAGES HIT BY GIANT WAVES after the earthquake, the scale of destruction is becoming clear.

 

AFP news agency quotes state television as saying more than 300 bodies were found in the fishing village of Constitucion alone.

 

In the port of Talcahuano, more than 20 boats were swept ashore and dumped in the streets by the waves.

 

Defence Minister Francisco Vidal has admitted the country's navy made a mistake by not immediately issuing a tsunami warning after the earthquake, a move that could have helped coastal residents flee to higher ground sooner.

 

But he added an alarm sounded by port captains had saved hundreds if not thousands of lives.

 

'SOCIAL TENSION'

 

Many of Concepcion's 500,000 inhabitants are short of food and have seen their water and electricity supplies cut off.

 

The army was called in to help the police force deal with looters, some of whom filled shopping trolleys full of groceries while others made off with plasma TVs and other electrical appliances.

 

The government said an overnight curfew was imposed in some of the worst-hit areas. It said it was largely observed, despite a number of strong aftershocks that sent frightened residents running out into the streets.

 

Meanwhile, rescuers with heat detectors are hunting for dozens of people believed to be trapped in an apartment block toppled by the quake.

 

The city's Mayor, Jacqueline van Rysselberghe, has warned there is the potential for severe "social tension."

 

She said: "We need food for the population. We are without supplies, and if we don't resolve that we are going to have serious security problems."

 

Regional military commander Guillermo Ramirez issued a warning to would-be looters.

 

"I would advise criminals not to mess with the armed forces. Our response will be severe, but within the context of the law," he said.

 

'GIANT EFFORT'

 

About two million Chileans are believed to have been affected by Saturday's earthquake, the seventh most powerful on record and the worst disaster to befall Chile in 50 years.

 

President Michelle Bachelet, due to hand power to President-elect Sebastian Pinera on 11 March, said the air force was to begin flying in food and vital aid to badly-hit areas, some of which have been cut off by the quake.

 

"We face a catastrophe of such unthinkable magnitude that it will require a giant effort," she said.

 

Chile did not initially request foreign assistance, but Ms Bachelet has subsequently said some offers of aid would be accepted.

 

She said Chile needed field hospitals, temporary bridges, water purification plants, damage assessment experts and rescuers to relieve those already working to find survivors.

 

EMERGENCY AID

 

The epicentre of the quake was 115km (70 miles) north-east of Concepcion and 325km (202 miles) south-west of the capital Santiago.

 

About 1.5 million homes in Chile have been damaged. Most of the collapsed buildings were of older design - including many historic structures.

 

About 90% of the historic centre of the town of CURICÓ was destroyed. Many roads and bridges across the affected area were damaged or destroyed.

 

One US risk assessor, Eqecat, has put the cost of repairing the damage at between $15bn and $30bn (£9.8bn-£19.6bn) or 10-20% of gross domestic product.

 

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would visit Santiago on Tuesday and meet Ms Bachelet and Mr Pinera, officials said.

 

The European Union has pledged 3m euros ($4m; £2.7m) in emergency aid for Chile. Japan said it was providing an emergency grant of $3m, as well as sending tents, generators, water cleaners and other emergency gear, while China has pledged $1m.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8541276.stm

 

CHILE QUAKE LATEST:

 

Official death toll rises from 300 to more than 700

 

Tens of thousands forced to live outdoors because of damaged homes

 

Police in CONCEPCION move to stop looters stealing from shops

 

Survivors rescued from collapsed Concepcion building, but dozens more

unaccounted for

 

Limited services resume on Santiago metro and international airport

 

Pacific-wide tsunami alert lifted

 

 

CHILE PRESIDENT MICHELLE BACHELET STEPS UP QUAKE RESCUE

 

(page last updated at 09:16 GMT, Monday, 1 March 2010)

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8542289.stm

 

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet has announced EMERGENCY MEASURES to deal with the destruction caused by Saturday's massive earthquake.

 

The 8.8 magnitude quake - one of the most powerful recorded - devastated central parts of the country, killing more than 700 people.

 

Troops are being deployed to help with rescue efforts and prevent looting.

 

A curfew is in force in some areas. Basic supplies are to be distributed as rescuers reach worst-hit areas.

 

We face a catastrophe of such unthinkable magnitude that it will require a giant effort," Ms Bachelet told reporters on Sunday in the capital, Santiago.

 

The curfew, which began at 2100 local time (2400 GMT), applies in the region of Maule - where more than 541 are confirmed dead - and in Concepcion, Chile's second city.

 

Both areas are being placed under special rules to speed up the delivery of aid.

 

The army has been sent to support police to prevent unrest in Concepcion, south of Santiago.

 

The mayor has said food is running out and the situation in the city is getting out of control. Supermarkets and chemists have been looted and thousands of people remain homeless.

 

Meanwhile, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has lifted its Pacific-wide alert, after fears of high waves failed to materialise in many countries.

 

But Chile itself saw waves inundate coastal towns. Defence Minister Francisco Vidal said the country's navy had made a mistake by not immediately issuing a tsunami warning after the earthquake, a move that could have helped coastal residents flee to higher ground sooner.

 

He added that an alarm sounded by port captains had saved hundreds if not thousands of lives.

 

SWEPT ASHORE

 

Meanwhile rescue teams are still trying to reach dozens of people believed to be trapped in a collapsed block of flats in Concepcion.

 

Many Chileans are spending a second night outdoors, afraid to stay in damaged homes.

 

Reports say 350 bodies were found in the devastated fishing village of Constitucion - which was hit by both the quake and the tsunami it set off.

 

In the port of Talcahuano more than 20 boats were swept ashore and dumped in the streets by the waves.

 

The emergency measures announced by Ms Bachelet also include:

 

• Air force flights to deliver supplies to affected areas

 

• Free distribution of basic goods in Maule and Biobio regions - distribution points are yet to be decided

• Efforts to guarantee electricity distribution, as many areas remain without power

 

Officials say public transport services are slowly returning to normal. One metro line in Santiago is operating. Roads are passable, although with diversions.

 

The airport in Santiago has reopened. It had been closed because of damage to the terminal and control tower.

 

AID OFFERED

 

The epicentre of the quake was 115km (70 miles) north-east of Concepcion and 325km south-west of Santiago.

 

About 1.5 million homes have been damaged. Most of the collapsed buildings were of older design - including many historic structures.

 

About 90% of the historic centre of the town of Curico was destroyed. Many roads and bridges across the affected area were damaged or destroyed.

 

One US risk assessor, Eqecat, put the cost of the damage at between $15bn and $30bn (£9.8bn-£19.6bn) or 10-20% of gross domestic product.

 

Responsibility for reconstruction will soon pass to President-elect Sebastian Pinera, who takes office in two weeks.

 

"It's going to be a very big task and we're going to need resources," he said.

Chile did not initially request foreign assistance, but Ms Bachelet later said some offers of aid would be accepted.

 

She said Chile needed field hospitals, temporary bridges, water purification plants, damage assessment experts and rescuers to relieve those already working to find survivors.

 

 

JAPAN LIFTS ALL TSUNAMI WARNINGS AFTER CHILE QUAKE

 

(page last updated at 02:34 GMT, Monday, 1 March 2010)

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8540742.stm

 

Japan has lifted all tsunami alerts throughout the country, almost two days after a powerful earthquake hit Chile.

 

A tsunami more than one metre (3ft) high hit the country's northern Pacific coast on Sunday, although bigger waves were expected.

 

Other Pacific nations were hit by tsunamis but no major damage or casualties were reported.

 

In Chile itself, however, areas affected by both the quake and the resulting tsunami saw hundreds dead.

 

In the fishing village of Concepcion, 350 bodies were found and in the port of Talcahuano more than 20 boats were swept ashore and dumped in the streets by the waves.

 

Large waves struck Chile's Juan Fernandez island group, reaching halfway into one inhabited area and killing five people. Several more are missing.

 

WELL PREPARED

 

Warning systems across the Pacific have improved since the 2004 Indonesia quake sparked a tsunami that killed nearly 250,000 people.

 

Nations and regions affected by the Pacific "Ring of Fire" all sounded alerts, trying to estimate the anticipated time of arrival of any tsunami following the earthquake, which struck on Saturday at 0634 GMT.

 

The first tsunami waves to reach Japan were reported to be just 10cm (4in) high, with a wave of 90cm (35.5in) following.

 

The BBC's Roland Buerk in Tokyo says Japan has experienced many earthquakes of its own and was well prepared.

 

People in areas at risk were ordered to move to higher ground, train services running along the coast were suspended and steel gates across fishing harbours were shut.

 

In 1960 about 140 people were killed by a tsunami in Japan after a major earthquake in Chile.

 

Thousands of people also left coastal areas of the Philippines after warnings of a possible tsunami were spread by text message.

 

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center had warned of "widespread damage" across the region following Saturday's quake, but later said waves were not as high as predicted.

 

A geophysicist at the centre, Gerard Fryer, told the BBC that the tsunami's impact was small because the earthquake occurred in shallow water.

 

The earthquake was "big enough to do significant damage, but not big enough to do anything large in the far field", he said.

 

'ORDINARY STORMY DAY'

 

Part of the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia were hit by a 4m (13ft) wave, but no casualties were reported.

 

In Tahiti, the tsunami waves were smaller, causing little damage.

 

New Zealand's Chatham Islands were hit by a wave of 1.5m (5ft) and areas along the main North and South Islands experienced small surges with no reports of casualties or serious damage.

 

Sirens were sounded in Hawaii to alert residents to the tsunami threat several hours before waves were expected.

 

The first waves hit about 2200 GMT on Saturday, after water began moving away from the shore at Hilo Bay on the Big Island before returning.

 

But correspondents say that, although 8ft (2.5m) waves had been predicted, the islands experienced nothing noticeably different from an ordinary stormy day.

Hawaiian officials later lifted the tsunami warning.

 

Despite Australian warnings of "possible dangerous waves, strong ocean currents and foreshore flooding" on the east coast, swimmers and surfers flocked to Sydney's Bondi beach.

[nancyk58]

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN SOUTHEAST ASIA ON 2 MARCH 2010

 

UPDATE OF THE SITUATION IN THE PHILIPPINES ON 2 MARCH 2010

 

ARROYO PAUSES IN HER SPEECH AS MAGNITUDE-6.1 QUAKE JOLTS CAGAYAN

 

(03/02/2010 | 12:52 PM - GMA News.TV)

 

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was in the middle of her speech in Cagayan when the earth suddenly shook Tuesday morning.

 

She immediately stiffened, then paused in her speech, which dealt with the government's agriculture projects in the said northern Luzon province, according to radio dzMM.

 

What Mrs. Arroyo felt beneath her feet was a magnitude-6.1 earthquake that struck the area at 10:51 a.m., according to the government-run Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).

 

The tremor's epicenter was traced some 130 kilometers north of Cagayan province's Tuguegarao City, Phivolcs said.

 

It was the third significant quake of tectonic origin that hit the Philippines since the magnitude-8.8 tremor shook Chile last February 27.

 

A magnitude-5.1 quake rocked parts of Batanes in extreme northern Luzon shortly after midnight Sunday. On Monday, a magnitude-5.0 tremor jolted parts of Davao Oriental province.

 

Tuesday’s earthquake was felt at Intensity V in Cagayan's Sta. Ana and Aparri towns; at Intensity IV in Vigan, Ilocos Sur; Intensity III in Laoag and Pasuqin, Ilocos Norte, Palanan in Isabela, and Tuguegarao City; Intenisty II in Albano, Isabela; and Intensity I at the Manila Ocean Park in Manila.

 

Phivolcs director Renato Solidum assured the public that the seismic disturbance would not pose any danger to life and properties, let alone trigger a tsunami in the seas.

 

"It's not that strong. Even with a magnitude-7 quake, only small tsunamis are created," Solidum told radio dzBB in an interview on Tuesday.

 

Gov. Alvaro Antonio said the earthquake did not wreak havoc in the province and the locals did not even panic. He said he was attending a program when the quake struck.

 

"The quake had no adverse effect. It was only mild. It was only felt for 15 seconds," Antonio told dzBB in a separate interview on Tuesday.

 

"I was at a program a while ago, the stadium was jam-packed and nobody panicked," he said.

 

- MARK D. MERUEÑAS/ARCS, RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV

 

 

 

MAYON ALERT LEVEL DOWNGRADED TO 1

 

(03/02/2010 | 06:17 PM - GMA News.TV)

 

State volcanologists on Tuesday morning lowered the alert level of Mayon Volcano from two to one.

 

In an advisory posted on its Web site, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) explained that alert level one meant that eruption was no longer imminent.

 

The six-kilometer radius danger zone, however, will remain off limits to public due to the continuing threat from sudden small explosions and rock falls.

 

"Active river channels and those areas perennially identified as lahar prone in the southeast sector should also be avoided especially during bad weather conditions or when there is heavy and prolonged rainfall," the advisory read.

 

According to Phivolcs, the number of Mayon's volcanic earthquakes is already within the normal level of zero to four quakes a day.

 

Volcanic tremors associated with magma movement within have likewise become "scarce and sometimes not recorded at all," it added.

 

Phivolcs said that while the crater glow of the Mayon Volcano remained at intensity II, it does not indicate any re-intensification. "Steam emission was most of the time weak and passively rising from the summit crater," the advisory read.

 

At the same time, Mayon also showed a deflated volcano edifice which indicates the absence of fresh magma supply. Its sulfur dioxide emission rate since January 13 up to March has consistently ranged from 110 to 2,021 tonnes which is consistent with its post eruptive gas emission rate.

 

- Aie Balagtas See/KBK, GMANews.TV

[nancyk58]

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN SOUTHEAST ASIA AND HAITI

 

BBC World News: More than 100 people are killed in a LANDSLIDE in eastern UGANDA, a minister tells the BBC, with many children feared dead.

 

 

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN CHILE ON 1 MARCH 2010, Part I

 

From Filipino GMA News.TV

 

MAN, DAUGHTER FALL 13 FLOORS IN CHILE QUAKE

 

(Michael Warren, Associated Press Writer - 03/01/2010 | 08:45 PM)

 

CONCEPCION, Chile — When their 13th-floor apartment began to shake, Alberto Rozas pulled his 7-year-old daughter into the bathroom doorway and waited for it to stop. Instead, they fell.

 

Plummeting as their brand-new apartment building toppled like a felled tree, they hugged each other all the way down.

 

Rozas had no idea which way was up until he looked through his apartment's shattered window and spotted light — "the light of the full moon."

 

Rozas and his daughter, Fernanda, clambered up and to safety with nothing more than a few cuts, scrapes and bruises.

 

"The earthquake and the fall were one single, horrible thing," Rozas told The Associated Press on Sunday. "I held onto her and she never let me go."

 

Rozas' neighbors who lived on the other side of the hall found themselves trapped beneath the structure, while rescuers painstakingly used electric saws and a generator-powered hammer to cut into the concrete.

 

"We don't have any listening devices or cameras," said Ian Argo, a firefighter commander.

 

As of Sunday, 23 people had been pulled alive from the 15-story Rio Alta building and seven bodies had been removed. An estimated 60 people remained trapped inside.

 

Socovil, the company that opened the concrete-and-glass structure last June, issued a statement saying it had complied with all building codes. But many residents were angry.

 

"The construction was obviously poor," Rozas said.

 

Abel Torres, 25, had a view of the Bio Bio River from his sixth-floor apartment. He had just gotten home from his job at a nightclub when the quake hit at 3:34 a.m.

 

"My TV fell on top of me and suddenly I saw stars shooting across my window," he said.

 

Torres and his roommate stacked furniture to reach that window — now a skylight — and escaped without clothes, coated in dust.

 

On the second floor, Maribel Alarcon and her husband Gunther rushed to comfort their 2-year-old son Oliver when he started crying moments before the temblor.

 

Their concern was their salvation: Oliver's bedroom was the only place spared in their apartment.

 

"We prayed a lot," Alarcon said. "And if God let us survive, that was because someone was going to rescue us."

 

Much higher in the building, Rozas was sleeping alongside his daughter when the shaking began.

 

"There was dust, noise, everything falling," he said. "We went to the bathroom doorway. Then there was the fall. Finally it stopped."

 

After they climbed out of the wreckage, Rozas took Fernanda to her mother's house, then returned to help firefighters understand the layout of the toppled building.

 

He retrieved medicine and clothes for Fernanda. And his own guitar. —AP

 

 

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN CHILE ON 2 MARCH 2010

 

TSUNAMI SWEEPS AWAY TOWNS ON CHILEAN COAST

 

(03/02/2010 | 01:52 PM - GMA News.TV)

 

TALCAHUANO, Chile – When the shaking stopped, Marioli Gatica and her extended family huddled in a circle on the floor of their seaside wooden home in this gritty port town, listening to the radio by a lantern's light.

 

They heard FIREFIGHTERS URGING TALCAHUANO's CITIZENS to STAY CALM and STAY INSIDE. They heard NOTHING OF A TSUNAMI — UNTIL IT SLAMMED INTO THEIR HOUSE with an unearthly roar about an hour after Saturday's magnitude 8.8 quake.

 

GATICA's HOUSE EXPLODED WITH WATER. She and her family were swept below the surface, swirling amid loose ship containers and other massive debris that smashed buildings into oblivion all around them.

 

"We were sitting there one moment and the next I looked up into the water and saw cables and furniture floating," Gatica said.

 

She clung to her 11-year-old daughter, Ninoska Elgueta, but the rush of water ripped the girl from her hands. Then the wave retreated as suddenly as it came.

 

Two of the giant containers crushed Gatica's home. A third landed seaward of where she floated, preventing the retreating tsunami from dragging her and other relatives away.

 

Soon Ninoska was back in her mother's arms — she had grabbed a tree branch to avoid being swept away and climbed down as soon as the sea receded.

 

Gatica's son, husband and 76-year-old father were OK as well, as were her sister and her family. The only relative missing was her 76-year-old mother, Nery Valdebenito, Gatica said as she waited in a hundreds-long line outside a school to report her losses.

 

"I think my mother is trapped beneath" the house, Gatica said.

 

As she spoke, firefighters with search dogs were examining the ruins of her home blocks away. Minutes later, the group leader drew his finger across his neck: No one alive under the house.

 

Such horrors abound along the devastated beach communities of Chile's south-central coast, which suffered the double tragedy Saturday of the earthquake and the tsunami it caused.

 

Of the quake's 723 VICTIMS, MOST were IN the wine-growing MAULE REGION that includes TALCAHUANO, now a mud-caked, ravaged town of 180,000 just north of Concepcion.

 

Close to 80 percent of TALCAHUANO's RESIDENTS are HOMELESS, with 10,000 HOMES UNINHABITABLE and HUNDREDS MORE DESTROYED, said Mayor Gaston Saavedra.

 

"The port is destroyed. The streets, collapsed. City buildings, destroyed," Saavedra said.

 

In CONCEPCION, the biggest city near the epicenter, rescuers heard the knocking of victims trapped inside a TOPPLED 70-UNIT APARTMENT BUILDING Monday and were drilling through thick concrete to reach them, said fire Commander Juan Carlos Subercaseux. By late Monday, FIREFIGHTERS HAD PULLED 25 SURVIVORS and NINE BODIES from the structure.

 

CHILE's DEFENSE MINISTER has said the NAVY made a MISTAKE by not immediately activating a tsunami warning. He said PORT CAPTAINS who did CALL WARNINGS IN SEVERAL COASTAL TOWNS SAVED HUNDREDS OF LIVES.

 

The waves came too quickly for a group of 40 retirees vacationing at a seaside campground in the village of Pelluhue. They had piled into a bus that was swept out to sea, along with trucks and houses, when the tsunami surged 200 meters (yards) into the summer resort town.

 

As of Monday, firefighters said, five of the retirees' bodies had been recovered. At least 30 remained missing.

 

Most residents in Pelluhue, where 300 homes were destroyed, were aware of the tsunami threat. Street signs point to the nearest tsunami evacuation route.

 

"We ran through the highest part of town, yelling, 'Get out of your homes!'" said Claudio Escalona, 43, who fled his home near the campground with his wife and daughters, ages 4 and 6. "About 20 minutes later came three waves, two of them huge, about 6 meters (18 feet) each, and a third even bigger. That one went into everything."

 

"You could hear the screams of children, women, everyone," Escalona said. "There were the screams, and then a tremendous silence."

 

In the village of Dichato, teenagers drinking on the beach were the first to shout the warning when they saw a horseshoe-shaped bay empty about an hour after the quake. They ran through the streets, screaming. Police joined them, using megaphones.

 

The water rose steadily, surging above the second floors of homes and lifting them off their foundations. Cars were stacked three high in the streets. Miles inland along a river valley, cows munched Monday next to marooned boats, refrigerators, sofas and other debris.

 

"THE MARITIME RADIO SAID THERE WOULDN'T BE A TSUNAMI," said survivor Rogilio Reyes, who was tipped off by the teenagers.

 

Dichato Mayor Eduardo Aguilera said 49 PEOPLE WERE MISSING and 800 HOMES were DESTROYED. Some people fled to high ground, only to return too early and get caught by the tsunami, he said. Fourteen bodies were found by Monday. The only aid: A fire department water truck.

 

The World Health Organization (WHO) said it expected the death toll to rise as communications improve. For survivors, it said access to health services will be a major challenge and noted that indigenous people living in adobe homes were most at risk.

 

In Geneva, U.N. humanitarian spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said Chile was seeking temporary bridges, field hospitals, satellite phones, electric generators, damage assessment teams, water purification systems, field kitchens and dialysis centers.

 

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said she was bringing 20 satellite phones as a first piece of a much larger U.S. aid package.

 

ARGENTINA said it was sending six aircraft loaded with a field hospital, 55 doctors and water treatment plants.

 

BRAZIL said it was sending a field hospital and rescue teams. Brazil's president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, visited the capital of Santiago to express his solidarity.

 

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said authorities were flying 320 tons of food, water and other basics into the quake zone.

 

Assessments of damage to Chile's economy were in the early stage. The copper industry was spared, while Concha y Toro, Chile's biggest winemaker, said Monday that the quake has forced it to halt production for at least a week while it assesses damage.

 

SECURITY was a major concern in CONCEPCION and other hard-hit towns. Most markets in Concepcion were ransacked by LOOTERS and people desperate for food, water, toilet paper, gasoline and other essentials Sunday, prompting authorities to send TROOPS and IMPOSE AN OVERNIGHT CURFEW in the city. The interior ministry extended the Concepcion curfew to run from 8 p.m. Monday to noon Tuesday.

 

When a small convoy of armored vehicles drove along a downtown street, bystanders applauded, shouting: "Finally! Finally!"

 

Throughout Talcahuano, stick-wielding residents barricaded streets with tires and rubble to protect their homes in the absence of law enforcement.

 

Downtown, eight suspected looters kneeled outside a pharmacy, their hands on their heads, as a police officer taunted them.

 

"Are you praying?" he shouted. "I don't hear you. Pray." -- AP

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation in Chile on 2 March 2010

 

NEWS IN RELATION TO THE EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI IN CHILE, PART II

 

TSUNAMI SWEEPS AWAY FLEEING BUS FULL OF RETIREES IN CHILE

 

(03/02/2010 | 07:59 PM - GMA News.TV)

 

PELLUHUE, Chile – The 40 retirees enjoying summer vacation at a seaside campground nestled under pine trees knew they had to move fast after Chile's powerful earthquake struck.

 

They didn't make it. The tsunami came in three waves, surging 200 meters (yards) into this Pacific Ocean resort town and dragging away the bus they'd piled into, hoping to get to high ground. Most of those inside were tourists, and only five of their bodies had been found by Monday, firefighters and witnesses said.

 

Pelluhue's horror underscored the destruction wrought by Saturday's pre-dawn 8.8-magnitude quake and the tsunami that ravaged communities along Chile's south-central coast — those closest to the quake's epicenter. Chile's death toll reached 723, and most died in the wine-growing Maule region that includes Pelluhue.

 

Survivors here found about 20 bodies, and an estimated 300 homes were destroyed.

 

Most residents were aware of the tsunami threat; street signs pointed to the nearest tsunami evacuation route. The ruins of homes, television sets, clothes, dishwaters and dead fish cover the town's black sand beaches.

 

"We ran through the highest part of town, yelling, 'Get out of your homes!'" said Claudio Escalona, 43, who fled his home near the campground with his wife and daughters, ages 4 and 6. "About 20 minutes later came three waves, two of them huge, about 6 meters (18 feet) each, and a third even bigger. That one went into everything."

 

"You could hear the screams of children, women, everyone," Escalona said. "There were the screams, and then a tremendous silence."

 

Destruction is widespread and food scarce all along the coast — in towns like Talca and Cauquenes, Curico and San Javier. In Curanipe, the local church served as a morgue. In Cauquenes, people quickly buried their dead because the funeral home had no electricity.

 

President Michelle Bachelet said authorities were flying hundreds of tons of food, water and other basics into the region.

 

After the quake rocked the gritty port town of Talcahuano, Marioli Gatica and her extended family huddled in a circle on the floor of their seaside wooden home, listening to the radio by a lantern's light.

 

They heard firefighters urging citizens to stay calm and stay inside. They heard nothing about a tsunami — until it slammed into their house with an unearthly roar. Gatica's house exploded with water. The family was swept below the surface, swirling amid loose ship containers and other heavy debris that smashed buildings into oblivion all around them.

 

"We were sitting there one moment and the next I looked up into the water and saw cables and furniture floating," Gatica said.

 

Two of the giant containers crushed Gatica's home. A third grounded between the ocean and where she floated, keeping the retreating tsunami from dragging her and other relatives out to sea. Her 11-year-old daughter, Ninoska Elgueta, clung to a tree as the wave retreated.

 

All the family survived except Gatica's 76-year-old mother, Nery Valdebenito, Gatica said. "I think my mother is trapped beneath" the house.

 

Firefighters with search dogs examined the ruins of her home. The group leader drew his finger across his neck: No one alive there.

 

Close to 80 percent of Talcahuano's 180,000 people are homeless, with 10,000 homes uninhabitable and hundreds more destroyed, Mayor Gaston Saavedra said.

 

"The port is destroyed. The streets, collapsed. City buildings, destroyed," Saavedra said.

 

In Concepcion, the biggest city near the epicenter, rescuers drilled through thick concrete to look for survivors trapped inside a toppled 70-unit apartment building. Firefighters had pulled 25 survivors and nine bodies from the structure.

 

Chile's defense minister has said the navy made a mistake by not immediately activating a tsunami warning. He said port captains who did call warnings in several coastal towns saved hundreds of lives.

 

In the village of Dichato, teenagers drinking on the beach were the first to shout the warning when they saw a horseshoe-shaped bay empty about an hour after the quake. They ran through the streets, screaming. Police joined them, using megaphones.

 

The water rose steadily, surging above the second floors of homes and lifting them off their foundations. Cars were stacked three high in the streets. Miles inland along a river valley, cows munched next to marooned boats, refrigerators, sofas and other debris.

 

"The maritime radio said there wouldn't be a tsunami," said Rogilio Reyes, who was warned off by the teenagers.

 

Dichato Mayor, Eduardo Aguilera said 49 people were missing and 800 homes were destroyed. Some people fled to high ground, only to return too early and get caught by the tsunami, he said.

 

The World Health Organization said it expected the death toll to rise as communications improve. For survivors, it said access to health services will be a major challenge.

 

In Geneva, U.N. humanitarian spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said Chile was seeking temporary bridges, field hospitals, satellite phones, electric generators, damage assessment teams, water purification systems, field kitchens and dialysis centers.

 

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said she was bringing 20 satellite phones Tuesday as a first piece of a much larger U.S. aid package. Argentina was sending six aircraft carrying a field hospital, 55 doctors and water treatment plants. Brazil was sending a field hospital and rescue teams.

 

Security remained a concern. Most markets in Concepcion were ransacked by looters and people desperate for food, water, toilet paper, gasoline and other essentials Sunday, prompting authorities to send troops and impose an overnight curfew. The interior ministry extended the city curfew to run from 8 p.m. Monday to noon Tuesday.

 

When a small convoy of armored vehicles drove along a downtown street, bystanders applauded, shouting: "Finally! Finally!" - AP

----------------------

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8544693.stm

 

CHILE QUAKE CURFEW ENDS AS TROOPS SEEK END TO LOOTING

 

A curfew has ended in Chile's second city, Concepcion, with thousands of troops now trying to prevent a renewal of looting in the earthquake zone.

 

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet says 14,000 troops are now in the region, after dozens of people were arrested for looting on Monday. The looters also

set fire to a department store.

 

A special air route is being set up to deliver aid from the capital, Santiago, to Concepcion, 430km (270 miles) away.

 

Saturday morning's 8.8-magnitude quake killed at least 723 people.

 

The deteriorating security situation in Concepcion comes despite the influx of thousands of troops to reinforce local police.

 

Many of the city's 500,000 inhabitants are short of food and have seen their water and electricity supplies cut off.

 

But lorry after lorry loaded with water, food and mattresses is being held up by the military until the curfew is lifted, reports the BBC's Andy Gallacher from the checkpoint on the outskirts of Concepcion.

 

The main highway in the region is twisted and bent out of shape, but the route remains open, our correspondent says.

 

Security seems to be the biggest issue holding up rescue efforts, he adds.

Some residents quoted by Reuters news agency said they were organising groups to defend their property.

 

President Michelle Bachelet sent the troops to the region condemning "pillage and criminality".

 

"We can say that, according what we've been told from the area, the situation in Concepcion is under control today," she said.

 

But, she added, authorities would take any "necessary measure" to stop renewed looting.

 

"Our principle objective is to go and help people tackle the emergency in the disaster zone. I want them [looters] to understand this and that they'll receive rigorous legal action. We will not tolerate such actions."

 

Meanwhile, rescuers searching the rubble of a collapsed apartment building in the city in which dozens are feared trapped say they have heard signs of life and are attempting to reach survivors.

 

COASTAL DESTRUCTION

 

Reports are beginning to emerge of the scale of the devastation in other areas.

 

Up to 90% of the mud-and-wood buildings in the historic centre of Curico had been destroyed or damaged, and a hospital badly damaged, BBC reporters said.

 

Some coastal towns and villages were also hit by giant waves after the earthquake, with some reported to have been completely destroyed.

 

The government admits that its attempts to provide aid swiftly have been hampered by damaged roads and power cuts.

 

The air supply route between Santiago and Concepcion will help the authorities send more than 300 tonnes of aid, including 120 tonnes of food, to the worst affected area of the country.

 

COMMUNICATION PROBLEMS

 

INTERNATIONAL AID has begun arriving.

 

Neighbouring ARGENTINA is flying a field hospital over the Andes to Chile and has pledged half a million litres of much-needed drinking water.

 

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva flew to Santiago and offered his nation's support, as did US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

 

Mrs Clinton took a consignment of satellite phones with her to Santiago after the Chilean government requested communications equipment alongside field hospitals and water purification units.

 

"One of their biggest problems has been communications," Mrs Clinton told reporters. "They can't communicate into Concepcion and some of the surrounding areas."

 

After touring the disaster zone, President-elect Sebastian Pinera said the situation was worse than he had expected.

 

"When we have a catastrophe of this magnitude, when there is no electricity and no water, the population... starts losing the sense of public order," he said.

 

About two million Chileans are believed to have been affected by Saturday's earthquake, the seventh most powerful on record and the worst disaster to befall Chile in 50 years.

 

The epicentre of the quake was 115km (70 miles) north-east of Concepcion and 325km south-west of the capital Santiago.

 

About 1.5 million homes in Chile have been damaged. Most of the collapsed buildings were of older design - including many historic structures.

 

One US risk assessor, Eqecat, has put the cost of repairing the damage at between $15bn and $30bn (£9.8bn - £19.6bn) or 10-20% of the country's gross domestic product.

 

------------------

 

In the fishing village of Constitucion, the mayor said the seafront and centre had been "completely destroyed".

 

Capital's ring road demolished

 

LATEST DEATH TOLL ACCORDING TO CHILE's PRESIDENT IS 795. (News posted after 20pm EMT).

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation in HAITI / ICRC news dated 1 March 2010

 

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN HAITI ON 1 MARCH 2010

 

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)

 

Six weeks after the earthquake struck, the ICRC continues to respond to vital needs in many stricken parts of Haiti.

 

Over the past fortnight it has reunited four children with their families in Port-au-Prince, while homeless families in Martissant have received sets of emergency household supplies.

 

At the same time, the organization is resuming the work it was doing before the earthquake, such as visiting people in detention.

 

 

01-03-2010 Operational update

 

HAITI: ICRC STILL MEETING QUAKE NEEDS WHILE RESUMING TRADITIONAL ROLE

 

Six weeks after the earthquake struck, the ICRC continues to respond to people's vital needs in many stricken parts of Haiti. Over the past fortnight it has reunited four children with their families in Port-au-Prince.

 

Volunteers of the Haitian National Red Cross Society have been at the forefront of providing disaster relief from the moment the earthquake struck, running first-aid posts, passing on health messages and helping in vaccination campaigns and aid distributions.

 

The International Red Cross and Red Crescent relief effort is being coordinated and led by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

 

For more details on the overall Red Cross and Red Crescent response to the earthquake, please visit the Federation website.

 

 

CHILDREN REUNITED WITH THEIR FAMILIES

 

The ICRC, working closely with the government's Institut de bien-être social et de recherche and with the Haitian Red Cross, reunited four boys with their families over the past two weeks. The children, aged between two and 12 years, were from various parts of Port-au-Prince. The family reunifications were the first to be completed by the ICRC since the earthquake rocked the capital.

 

Since children are highly vulnerable, especially in times of natural or man-made disaster, every precaution needs to be taken to ensure that records are kept when parents and their children are separated, for whatever reason. Before going ahead with any family reunification, identities must be verified and authorizations must be obtained from the Haitian authorities – and it must be confirmed that the family members are being reunited of their own free will.

 

RISK OF DISEASE

The dire sanitation situation in the camps in Port-au-Prince continues to be of primary concern. Growing rubbish heaps must be removed, and latrines emptied, or they could become breeding grounds for mosquitoes spreading malaria and dengue fever in the weeks ahead, once the rainy season starts.

 

The risk of an outbreak of contagious disease is all the higher considering that tens of thousands of camp dwellers are squashed together in makeshift shelters. As a preventive measure, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, together with the Haitian Red Cross and the ICRC, have begun a massive, earthquake-related vaccination campaign, led by the Haitian government, to inoculate children against German measles, whooping cough, tetanus and diphtheria, and adults against the latter two diseases.

 

DISTRIBUTION OF AID IN VIOLENCE-PRONE MARTISSANT

Over the past few days, the ICRC has distributed 3,050 sets containing tarpaulins and rope, blankets, mosquito nets, kitchen items, soap and jerrycans to earthquake-affected families in Martissant, one of the poorest, most violence-prone neighbourhoods of the capital. The ICRC has been working in Haiti since 1994 and in the slum neighbourhoods of Port-au-Prince for more than a decade. As a result, community leaders accept the ICRC's neutral, impartial and humanitarian work, and distributions such as the one in Martissant take place with very little disruption and a great deal of goodwill.

 

Registration cards for the distribution were given only to women. They waited patiently in long lines for their turn to collect sets of tarpaulins, blankets, mosquito nets, kitchen items, soap and jerrycans. "My legs ache waiting here," remarked one woman. "But it is worth it." Two ICRC staff members gave out information about the distribution procedures and encouraged the women to be patient as they queued by entertaining them with songs and role-play. "We share jokes and make them laugh," commented Marie Wongglère J. Sully, one of the staff. "At the same time, we can help speed up the distribution process by explaining what the women have to do when they get to the head of the queue."

 

CONCERN ABOUT DETAINEES

The ICRC is resuming its traditional activities, including visits to places of detention and police stations throughout the country, where many detainees are being placed temporarily as the central prison was damaged by the earthquake. Given the current difficult situation, the ICRC is concerned more than ever about the welfare of detainees and is discussing overcrowding, treatment, prisoner records and other detention-related matters with prison authorities.

 

Two large tents were donated to the Ministry of Justice, the premises of which were ruined in the earthquake. One tent will provide a temporary location for a tribunal; the other will serve as office space.

 

 

Over the past two weeks, ICRC activities in Haiti have included the following:

 

Restoring family links

On 18 February, the ICRC reunited three boys, aged eight, 10 and 12, with their families in Port-au-Prince. It reunited another boy, aged two-and-a-half, with his mother on 25 February after transporting him to Port-au-Prince from Cap-Haïtien.

 

The ICRC is currently processing over 100 tracing cases. These include not only people seeking news of missing loved ones, but also 52 unaccompanied children for whom the ICRC is looking for their parents or guardians. This can sometimes be a lengthy process. However, the ICRC firmly believes that it is in the long-term interest of all concerned that the legal and practical formalities are completed before a child and his or her family are reunited.

 

Haitian Red Cross volunteers run tracing posts where people can register their names on the ICRC tracing website. The database currently contains over 28,400 names, including those of more than 5,700 people in Haiti announcing that they are alive.

 

Detainee welfare

In Port-au-Prince, ICRC delegates visited the prison in Carrefour and the women's prison in Pétionville, where they delivered a total of 440 hygiene kits containing toothbrushes, soap and other toiletries. They also provided prison authorities with cleaning materials and gave detainees and their families the opportunity to contact each other by telephone.

 

An ICRC delegate is visiting prisons and police stations in the south of the country to assess needs relating to the earthquake as well as to perform the ICRC's usual tasks. In this region, too, the ICRC has made it possible for detainees to talk with their families by telephone.

 

A total of 815 tarpaulins were donated to prison authorities in Port-au-Prince and Jacmel to be used for temporary sheltering.

 

ICRC water engineers coordinated the cleaning and disinfecting of the civilian prison in Archaie. Similar work had previously been carried out in the Port-au-Prince civilian prison.

 

Health

As at 26 February, some 73,000 children and adults of just under 200,000 targeted people had been vaccinated. The figure includes 13,365 children below eight years of age. They were also given vitamin A supplements and de-worming medication. The ICRC has so far been supporting the campaign in three areas where it has worked for years: Martissant, Bel-Air and Canapé-Vert.

 

Ten ICRC-supported Haitian Red Cross first-aid posts treated over 1,200 patients.

 

In addition, Red Cross volunteers promoted hygiene practices and disseminated public health messages in several camps. A mobile health clinic, staffed by members of the Finnish, Swedish and French National Red Cross Societies, worked with the Haitian Red Cross first-aid posts in Carrefour-Feuille and Canapé-Vert. It is due to expand its service to Martissant in the coming days.

 

Water and sanitation

Work has begun to install 50 latrines in the Asile neighbourhood. Twenty per cent of them will be adapted for use by the disabled. Latrines will be installed at other sites in the coming days.

 

A waste-management programme is about to start using waste collected during ongoing ICRC sanitation activities in six locations in Port-au-Prince, including the overcrowded camps for displaced people (IDPs) in Place Boyer and Boliman.

 

In Cité-Soleil, the biggest shantytown with over 200,000 inhabitants, ICRC water engineers repaired leaks to the secondary water-distribution network.

 

The ICRC continues to provide clean water for some 16,000 people living in camps and in the Cité-Soleil neighbourhood.

 

Protocols have been agreed with the Port-au-Prince water board (CAMEP) concerning the provision of fuel to three pumping stations in the Duvivier neighbourhood.

 

For further information, please contact:

Jessica Barry, ICRC Port-au-Prince, mobile: +509 3456 3392, satellite: +88 165 146 6175

 

Marçal Izard, ICRC Geneva, tel: +41 22 730 24 58 or +41 79 217 32 24

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation in the Philippines

 

NEWS IN RELATION TO THE PHILIPPINES ON 3 MARCH 2010

 

EFFECTS OF EL NIÑO BEING FELT ACROSS THE COUNTRY

 

(03/03/2010 | 01:44 AM - GMA News.TV)

 

The El Niño dry spell has been causing losses in agriculture and tourism across the country, from farmlands up north to poultry farms and tourist destinations down south.

 

In Benguet in northern Philippines, water sources for mountain farmlands planted to potato, cabbage and other temperate vegetables have began to dry up due to El Niño, threatening huge agricultural losses for the country’s “Salad Bowl" and a rise in the prices of vegetables.

 

“There will be changes in the characteristic of plants. Pests and diseases are also possible," said Lolita Bentres, provincial agriculturist of Benguet.

 

In Ilagan, capital town of Isabela province also in northern Philippines, the Pinsal Falls in the Ilagan Sanctuary, a popular tourist attraction among locals, has begun to dry up also due to El Niño.

 

“If before it was as wide as an entire curtain span, now it’s probably just half a curtain wide. It’s like half of the water has been lost," said Billy Perez of the Ilagan Sanctuary.

 

A seven-foot deep swimming pool inside the sanctuary, which used to be open for public use, has also stopped operations since the spring where it gets its water supply has also dried up.

 

Farther south, in the Bicol region, corn farmers have appealed to their provincial governments for assistance to avoid further damage to their crops due to the dry spell.

 

In poultry farms in Zamboanga City in Mindanao, an average of 30 to 40 chickens die daily due to heat stroke and dehydration.

 

“That’s natural due to the heat, and also, drinking water for them has become scarce somewhat, so we raisers of chicken and other livestock are now having problems," said a local poultry farm owner.

 

Even water levels in the Maria Cristina Falls in Iligan City have begun to decrease due to the dry spell. Aside from being a popular tourist spot, the falls also provides hydroelectric power in Lanao del Norte.

- Andreo C. Calonzo/JV, GMANews.TV and GMA News

 

 

CAGAYAN EYES MULTI-WATER SOURCE SYSTEM TO TAPER EFFECTS OF DROUGHT

 

(03/03/2010 | 10:30 AM - GMA News.TV)

 

Officials from the northern province of Cagayan say it needs to activate the multiple uses of water systems to ease the severe effects of the El Niño phenomenon.

 

Jack Enrile, senior economic adviser of the province and concurrent senior consultant of the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA), said that with the scarcity of water brought by the prolonged drought, water resources should be put into better use to enable communities to ease the impact of the dry spell.

 

"While water for agriculture is essential, we will also activate the multiple uses of this scarce resource for home gardens, poultry and livestock raising, aquaculture and rural enterprise among others," Enrile said.

 

EXPECT THE WORST

Enrile made the recommendation on Tuesday as the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) predicted that Northern Luzon, particularly Cagayan Valley, will experience temperatures of up to 40 degrees Celsius from May to June.

 

"We must expect the worst since the arrival of summer has yet to be officially declared and already hotter weather is predicted," he said.

 

Among his recommendations is the optimized tapping of water from upper catchments down to estuaries and coastal wetlands through multi-purpose reservoirs.

 

Water impoundment projects in Cagayan already exist but Enrile said its integrated management should be strengthened since irrigation systems are often the only water providers during this kind of weather disturbances. Farmers are affected most because many cannot still afford irrigation service.

 

BILLIONS IN LOSSES

The Philippines is expected to lose at least P20 billion in the agriculture sector due to the El Niño phenomenon.

 

Data from the Department of Agriculture (DA) show that an estimated P12.24 billion worth in rice production, P5.2 billion in corn, P2.54 billion in marine catch and P443 million in high value crops will be affected by the El Niño crisis which is expected to last until July.

 

Cagayan and Isabela, the worst hit by the drought, have already lost more than P3 billion in agricultural inputs with Cagayan shouldering nearly half of the total losses in the region.

 

Other areas hit by the dry spell are Benguet, Batanes, Nueva Vizcaya, Nueva Ecija, Bulacan, Pampanga, Batangas, Iloilo, Guimaras, Antique, Negros Occidental and Capiz.

 

Magat Dam in Ramon, Isabela, the source of water to some 84,000 hectares of farmlands, has reported a record low water level while supply in Metro Manila has been cut to almost a quarter of what Angat Dam used to allocate.

 

Reports said poultry farms in Zamboanga City in Mindanao are reportedly losing an average of 30 to 40 chickens daily due to heat stroke and dehydration.

 

RECEDING WATERS

Water falls including Pinzal in Isabela and Maria Cristina in Iligan City, which provides hydroelectric power in Lanao del Norte, have likewise been affected.

 

This scarcity of water has prompted Enrile to issue his proposal of best water management practices to mitigate the damage to the economy in Cagayan and elsewhere.

 

"Proper water management is the key in easing the impact of drought. Even if irrigation systems have been designed for field crops, they can also be used such as for cattle or backyard irrigation," he said.

 

"We must prepare for what the weather bureau predicts to a reduction in rainfall of up to 60 percent," he added.

- RSJ, GMANews.TV

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation in Chile on 3 March 2010

 

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN CHILE ON 2 AND 3 MARCH 2010 FROM BBC

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8546478.stm / Page last updated at 20:46

GMT, Tuesday, 2 March 2010

 

CHILE's CURFEW CITY TENSE AMID AFTERSHOCKS AND LOOTING

 

By Will Grant, BBC News, Concepcion

 

The drive down to Concepcion from Santiago passes through some spectacular countryside.

 

After travelling past the vineyards of the wine-making region the landscape becomes more rugged as you head into Bio-Bio region and Chile's second city.

 

But since this city was rocked by Saturday's earthquake, the normally modern and well-developed roads are now twisted and broken throughout the route.

 

After a journey beset by fallen bridges and long diversions, the final approach into the province of Concepcion came to a frustrating halt just kilometres from the city.

 

The military set up a 16-hour long curfew and were escorting just the most important aid vehicles past the disturbances.

 

As the young lieutenant explained the situation to a crowd of drivers waiting to enter Concepcion, the ground shook twice in quick succession. The daily aftershocks are still very noticeable here.

 

After some negotiation we're given the piece of paper which grants us access to the quake zone.

 

It is a few kilometres down the road that the scope of this earthquake at last becomes clear.

 

We pass by a destroyed shopping mall and half-a-dozen collapsed buildings on our arrival.

 

Hundreds of soldiers are patrolling the streets and evidence of the recent looting is everywhere.

 

Yet by arriving during a curfew, Concepcion is eerily devoid of cars and almost of people.

 

'NO HELP'

 

At a destroyed apartment block, where apparently eight bodies have been pulled from the rubble, rescue workers are still searching for survivors using sniffer dogs.

 

They're concerned too about a half-finished apartment block which they say has been structurally damaged and could collapse at any moment.

 

Given the constant earth tremors beneath us, it's a distinct possibility.

Then suddenly, the city emerges from its strict curfew.

 

Thousands of drivers are on the streets trying to reach the nearby town of San Pedro to find clean water and safe shelter. Others, however, can't leave.

 

"We've been defending our homes from the looters," Eduardo Santos tells me, standing outside a badly-cracked apartment block which he and his family are too frightened to sleep in.

 

Instead, they are living in a hastily-erected tent with several other families from the same building.

 

The authorities just walk past us and don't help, he says pointing to some of the troops posted to the city who are dealing with a damaged bridge.

 

Eduardo makes another emergency run into his apartment to get fresh water but refuses to stay there more than a couple of minutes.

 

That has put him in conflict with the troops who want everyone off the streets by nightfall and with the looters who may try again to break into his empty home.

 

 

CHILE 'NOT FACING FOOD SHORTAGES' AFTER EARTHQUAKE

 

Chile's President Michelle Bachelet says the country is not facing shortages of food and fuel after Saturday's powerful earthquake.

 

Aid is being distributed in Concepcion and other badly-damaged towns where the army had to quell outbreaks of looting.

 

Nearly 800 people are known to have died in the 8.8 magnitude quake and the powerful tsunami it generated.

 

The navy has said it is partially to blame for coastal towns not being clearly warned of the tsunami danger.

 

The 14,000 troops President Bachelet has sent to the earthquake zone have restored order in Concepcion, Chile's second-largest city, after an 18-hour curfew was put in place to prevent looting that broke out.

 

The curfew was extended from 1800 (2100 GMT) on Tuesday to noon Wednesday in Concepcion and similar curfews have been imposed in six other towns badly affected by the earthquake.

 

On Wednesday, President Bachelet sought to calm fears that there was not enough food and water in the earthquake zone.

 

"There is no shortage, there is enough food and therefore we must remain calm," she said.

 

"There is also enough fuel, there is no risk of shortages."

 

Dozens of people were arrested in Concepcion on Monday for looting and on Tuesday the mayor of Hualpen appealed for help in a radio interview, saying his town had been taken over by "thugs".

 

Troops are fanning out to supervise the delivery of food, medicine and water to hundreds of thousands of people in need.

 

A special air route has been set up to deliver aid from the capital, Santiago, to Concepcion, 430km (270 miles) to the south.

 

International aid from Chile's neighbours has been arriving as well.

 

RESPONSE ROW

 

Rescue crews with sniffer dogs have stepped up the search for survivors and in Concepcion, heavy equipment is being used to help move the heaps of rubble.

 

Officials say 799 people are confirmed to have died but there are reports of many people still missing in the coastal town of CONSTITUCION.

 

There have been complaints that the number of deaths could have been lower if the government had moved more quickly immediately after the earthquake struck before dawn on Saturday.

 

The full extent of damage from one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded was difficult to immediately assess with roads and bridges badly damaged and power and communication links cut.

 

President Bachelet initially declined international offers of help but has now asked for generators, mobile hospitals and water treatment plants.

 

An admiral said Chile's navy was partially to blame for the lack of a clear tsunami warning, but said the natural disaster agency should share the blame.

 

"We were unclear with the information we gave because we were not precise enough to tell the president if the alert was to be maintained or cancelled," said the navy's Admiral Edmundo Gonzalez.

 

"And this undoubtedly, with the information that the head of the [oceanographic service] gave to the president, undoubtedly stopped the [government natural disaster agency], under instructions from the president, from declaring an alert."

 

The head of the natural disaster agency, Carmen Fernandez, said an earlier alert would not have helped save lives because there was no system in place to tell people in time.

 

The tsunami reached across the Pacific, hitting New Zealand and Japan with surges of water a metre (3ft) or more high about 24 hours after the earthquake.

 

In Chile, about 200km (124 miles) of coastline were swept by the tsunami with waves of up to six metres hitting some towns. In places the water reached 2km inland, said an emergency official in the Maule region.

 

About two million Chileans are believed to have been affected by Saturday's earthquake, the seventh most powerful on record and the worst disaster to befall Chile in 50 years.

 

The epicentre of the quake was 115km north-east of Concepcion and 325km south-west of the capital Santiago.

 

About 1.5 million homes in Chile have been damaged. Most of the collapsed buildings were of older design - including many historic structures.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8546293.stm / Page last updated at 2:49 GMT, Wednesday, 3.3.2010

 

 

BACHELET URGES CHILE EARTHQUAKE SURVIVORS TO STAY CALM

 

Chile's president has appealed for calm in the earthquake-ravaged city of Concepcion, vowing a stern response to any renewal of looting and violence.

 

Michelle Bachelet says 14,000 troops are now in the region, after dozens of looters were arrested.

 

As night fell, curfews were imposed across four major urban centres in Chile, including an 18-hour curfew in Concepcion, one if its largest cities.

 

Some half a million people are homeless in a city now under military control.

 

The death toll from the 8.8-magnitude quake now stands at 795, officials say, but emergency workers also say 19 people are still unaccounted for.

 

One mayor, from Hualpen, near Concepcion, said many on the streets were more terrified of crime than aftershocks.

 

"The thugs have taken over the city. Now we are not afraid of the earthquakes, we're afraid of the criminals," Marcelo Rivera told a Chilean radio station.

 

Armoured vehicles have been stationed at strategic points across Concepcion and armed soldiers patrol the streets.

 

Groups of residents are reported to have gathered together to form vigilante groups to confront would-be looters.

 

'Necessary measure'

 

A special air route is being set up to deliver aid from the capital, Santiago, to Concepcion, 430km (270 miles) away.

 

But security in the city remains a key concern after shops and homes were looted on Monday and police made a large number of arrests.

 

The deteriorating security situation in Concepcion comes despite the influx of thousands of troops to reinforce local police.

 

"We can say that, according what we've been told from the area, the situation in Concepcion is under control today," President Michelle Bachelet said on Tuesday.

But, she added, authorities would take any "necessary measure" to stop renewed looting.

 

"Our principle objective is to go and help people tackle the emergency in the disaster zone.

 

Aid agencies have yet to reach Concepcion, reports the BBC's Andy Gallacher, who has reached the city, where many people are still awaiting water, food and mattresses.

 

However, at least two police officers appear to be posted on every corner in the city centre, our correspondent says.

 

Some residents quoted by Reuters news agency said they were organising groups to defend their property.

 

Reports from the town of Pelluhue suggested that a series of tsunamis swept through what was a tranquil seaside resort, destroying houses and claiming many lives.

 

The government admits that its attempts to provide aid swiftly have been hampered by damaged roads and power cuts.

 

The air supply route between Santiago and Concepcion will help the authorities send more than 300 tonnes of aid, including 120 tonnes of food, to the worst-affected area of the country.

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation in CHILE on 3.3.10 from Filipino GMA News.TV

 

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN CHILE ON 3 MARCH 2010 FROM FILIPINO GMA News.TV

 

POST-QUAKE CHAOS, LOOTING HURTS CHILE's PRIDE

 

(3/03/2010 | 08:24 AM - GMA News.TV)

 

CONCEPCION, Chile – Chile's president defended herself Tuesday against charges of government incompetence in a disaster that not only shattered lives and property but challenged the nation's very identity.

 

A society built on pride in its wealth and orderliness found itself suddenly facing gangs of rioters, a wounded economy and a shaken sense of civic responsibility. A government that sent 15 tons of food and medicine, a search and rescue team and 20 doctors to Haiti after the earthquake there found itself seeking emergency aid from other countries.

 

In Lota, a former coal mining town of 30,000 along the heavily damaged coast, Mayor Jorge Venegas said Tuesday that a "psychosis" had taken hold.

 

A gas station went up in flames, gunfire rattled through the night and residents guarded streets against roaming bands of looters, he told Radio Bio Bio. He said 2,000 homes had been destroyed, thousands were living in the streets and people were wielding guns, iron bars and long sticks to protect their possessions.

 

"It's urgent that the army reach our city," Venegas pleaded.

 

"It's a collective hysteria," said Francisco Santa Cruz, 20, an aid worker caring for 56 families in a camp for the newly homeless in San Pedro, across the Bio Bio River from Concepcion, the biggest city in the quake zone.

 

Like Venegas in Lota, Santa Cruz said he heard gunfire throughout the night.

 

"They used to call us (Chileans) the jaguars of South America," he said, using Chilean slang for proud and strong. "But now we know that we're not even close to that."

 

President Michelle Bachelet was on the defensive against a storm of claims that the government's response to the disaster was a failure.

 

La Tercera, an influential daily, said the looting and violence showed "incomprehensible weakness and slowness" by authorities. El Mercurio, a conservative publication many consider Chile's paper of record, called on President-elect Sebastian Pinera, who takes office March 11, to "restore hope" to Chile.

 

The government on Monday imposed an 8 p.m-to-noon curfew and sent 14,000 troops to Concepcion and surrounding areas to stop widespread looting — after virtually every market in the city had been sacked. On Tuesday the curfew was extended to begin at 6 p.m.

 

"People probably are always going to feel that we could have done things better," Bachelet insisted before receiving U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who promised American aid. "But the reality is given the extent (of destruction), it always will be insufficient."

 

The death toll rose to 796 Tuesday and aftershocks continued to roll through the region; the stronger ones frightened residents living in temporary shelter.

 

Saturday's magnitude 8.8 quake and subsequent tsunami ravaged towns and cities along a 700-kilometer (435-mile) stretch of Chile's Pacific coast. Downed bridges and damaged or debris-strewn highways made transit difficult if not impossible in many areas.

 

Chileans seemed deeply troubled by what the disaster showed about their government — and themselves. Some looters were people grabbing basic necessities like toilet paper, but many appeared to be well-dressed citizens carting off electronic goods.

 

Catalina Sandoval, a 22-year-old construction engineering student in Concepcion, said she felt "rage, impotence and disillusion" with the lawlessness.

 

"I'm shocked," Sandoval said. "Not only criminals but well-off people are stealing."

 

Leonardo Sanhueza lamented in the Ultimas Noticias newspaper a "SOCIAL DISINTEGRATION" in the wealthy country that has led some people simply "to look out for themselves — and let the rest eat like dogs."

 

Some Chileans were so troubled that even long-held civic beliefs were shaken. Since the bloody dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet ended 20 years ago, Chileans have preferred that soldiers stay inside their barracks.

 

But police were completely outnumbered when looting began after the quake, and residents Tuesday cheered an armored troop convoy and the arrival of a military C-130 in Concepcion delivering aid supplies.

 

The economy also took a severe blow in a nation of 17 million whose industry, negligible inflation and stable democracy are the envy of Latin America.

 

Booming copper revenues and prudent fiscal policies helped the government reduce poverty from 45 percent in 1990 to 13 percent today, and more than triple per capita annual income to $14,000 in that span.

 

But a huge wealth gap exists: A study by the World Bank several years ago showed the government spent 1.3 percent of its revenue on the poorest 10 percent of Chileans and 40 percent on the richest 10 percent. Many social commentators have noted the quake exposed anew the plight of Chile's poor, among the worst affected by the disaster.

 

President-elect Pinera, a conservative billionaire, campaigned on a promise to grow the economy by 6 percent annually and transform Chile "into the best country in the world."

 

Those hopes, however, were tempered by the quake. AIR Worldwide, a Boston-based consulting firm, estimated economic losses could surpass $15 billion (7.9 billion Chilean pesos). About 2 million people were injured, made homeless or suffered other major losses.

 

Destruction was widespread and food scarce all along the coast — in towns like Talca and Cauquenes, Curico and San Javier.

 

In Curanipe, the local church served as a morgue. In Cauquenes, people quickly buried their dead because the funeral home had no electricity. Close to 80 percent of Talcahuano's 180,000 people are homeless, its port destroyed.

 

International aid has started pouring in.

 

Clinton said the United States is sending satellite phones, which Chile identified as a high priority, as well as water purification systems, generators and medical equipment. It pledged more help, including a field hospital Clinton said is "ready to go."

 

"We have these things in our country, but how can we get them to the people if we don't have bridges and roads?" said Bachelet. Most aid deliveries were being flown from — and to — airports damaged by the quake; Bachelet has said 230 tons of relief was on its way to Concepcion.

 

Argentina flew in a C-130 with much of a hospital — including a surgical and intensive care unit, ambulance and laboratory — three water treatment plants and power generation units, the military announced. Five more planeloads of aid were to arrive by Tuesday night.

 

Brazil said it was sending aid and an army field hospital. Peru said it was sending a hospital, doctors and 15 tons of blankets and tents. China offered $1 million in humanitarian aid. In Geneva, the International Red Cross asked donors for $6.5 million for water, tents and other relief.

 

The U.N. said Chile had told it the country doesn't need food or water but rather temporary bridges, field hospitals, satellite phones, electric generators, damage assessment teams, water purification systems, field kitchens and dialysis centers.

 

"The government is expecting that these needs will be filled largely through bilateral arrangements, and we need to stay within the parameters of what the country has asked for, and not to send anything that they didn't ask for," U.N. deputy emergency relief coordinator Catherine Bragg said in New York.

 

There were small signs of normalcy in Concepcion. The government began distributing food baskets and water, and some gas stations reopened.

 

Orderly lines formed outside a supermarket — the only one in the city that hadn't been sacked. - AP

 

 

CHILE EARTHQUAKE MAY HAVE SHORTENED EARTH's DAY

 

(3/03/2010 | 09:17 AM - GMA News.TV)

 

NEW YORK – Earth's days may have gotten a little bit shorter since the massive earthquake in Chile, but don't feel bad if you haven't noticed. The difference would be only about one-millionth of a second.

 

Richard Gross, a scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and colleagues calculated that Saturday's quake shortened the day by 1.26 microseconds. A microsecond is one-millionth of a second.

 

The length of a day is the time it takes for the planet to complete one rotation — 86,400 seconds or 24 hours.

 

An earthquake can make Earth rotate faster by nudging some of its mass closer to the planet's axis, just as ice skaters can speed up their spins by pulling in their arms. Conversely, a quake can slow the rotation and lengthen the day if it redistributes mass away from that axis, Gross said Tuesday.

 

Gross said the calculated changes in length of the day are permanent. So a bunch of big quakes could add up to make the day shorter, "but these changes are very, very small."

 

So small, in fact, that scientists can't record them directly. Gross said actual observations of the length of the day are accurate to five-millionths of a second. His estimate of the effect of the Chile quake is only a quarter of that span.

 

"I'll certainly look at the observations when they come in," Gross said, but "I doubt I'll see anything." - AP

[nancyk58]

Update of the situation in Southeast Asia - TAIWAN and the Philippines on 4.3.10

 

UPDATE OF THE SITUATION IN SOUTHEAST ASIA (THE PHILIPPINES AND TAIWAN) ON 4.3.10

 

UPDATE OF THE SITUATION IN TAIWAN ON 4.3.10

 

STRONG EARTHQUAKE HITS TAIWAN; INJURIES REPORTED

 

(03/04/2010 | 09:53 AM - GMA News.TV)

 

(Updated 12:14 p.m.) TAIPEI, Taiwan — A powerful 6.4-magnitude earthquake rocked southern Taiwan on Thursday, causing widespread damage and disrupting communications around the island. Local news reports said several people were injured.

 

The quake was centered in the county of Kaohsiung, and struck at a depth of about 3.1 miles (5 kilometers). Kaohsiung is about 249 miles (400 kilometers) south of the capital Taipei. No tsunami alert was issued.

 

Kuo Kai-wen, director of the Central Weather Bureau's Seismology Center, said the Taiwan quake was not geologically related to the temblor that hit Chile over the weekend, killing more than 800 people.

 

In the southern Taiwanese city of Tainan, a fire broke out in a textile factory shortly after Thursday's quake struck, sending huge plumes of black smoke billowing into the air. At least one train in southern Taiwan shifted slightly off its tracks, and authorities suspended service throughout the region. Subway service in the city of Kaohsiung was temporarily disrupted.

 

Power outages hit Taipei and at least one county to the south, and telephone service in some parts of Taiwan was spotty. - Buildings swayed in the capital when the quake struck.

 

The quake's epicenter was near the town of Jiashian, in the same area where a devastating typhoon struck last August. A Kaohsiung county official told CTI TV news that some temporary housing in the town collapsed as a result of the quake.

 

The Ministry of Defense said troops were dispatched to Jiashian to report on damage.

 

CTI reported one person was moderately injured by falling debris in Kaohsiung, and one woman was hospitalized after a wall collapsed on her scooter in the southern city of Chiayi. Also in Chiayi, one person was hurt by a falling tree, government-owned Central News Agency said.

 

A spokesman for Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou said authorities had been instructed to follow the quake situation closely and take steps to mitigate damage and dislocation.

 

Earthquakes frequently rattle Taiwan but most are minor and cause little or no damage.

 

However, a 7.6-magnitude temblor in central Taiwan in 1999 killed more than 2,300 people. In 2006 a 6.7-magnitude quake south of Kaohsiung severed undersea cables and disrupted telephone and Internet service to millions throughout Asia. - AP

 

 

UPDATE OF THE SITUATION IN THE PHILIPPINES ON 4.3.10

 

PINOYS IN CHILE ARE SAFE AND ACCOUNTED FOR, DFA MAINTAINS

 

(Jerrie M. Abella, GMANews.TV - 03/04/2010 | 02:30 AM)

 

The Department of Foreign Affairs reiterated its earlier statement that Filipinos working and residing in earthquake-ravaged Chile are “fine" and fully accounted for.

 

Read the article in the thread "the Philippines need your help"

 

 

 

NO PINOY CASUALTIES IN TAIWAN QUAKE - MECO

 

(03/04/2010 | 04:47 PM - GMA News.TV)

 

No Filipino was hurt in the powerful 6.4-magnitude quake that rocked Taiwan Thursday morning, the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) said.

 

Read the article in the thread "the Philippines need your help"

 

 

Phivolcs: QUAKES ROCK MASBATE, BATANES

 

(03/04/2010 | 10:24 PM - GMA News.TV)

 

Three earthquakes rocked the country Thursday - two in Masbate province in Bicol while one in Batanes islands in extreme northern Luzon.

 

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said the first quake in Masbate occurred at 12:30 p.m., and was tectonic in origin.

 

In its report, Phivolcs said the quake measured Magnitude 4.5, and the epicenter was traced to 18 km northeast of Cataingan town.

 

A second quake was felt at 12:31 p.m. in Masbate, measuring Magnitude 2.6. The epicenter was traced to 32 km southeast of Masbate town in Masbate. Phivolcs said the second quake was tectonic.

 

Phivolcs said a Magnitude-4.9 quake was felt in Batanes at 10:08 a.m., with the epicenter traced to 48 km southeast of Basco. It was tectonic in origin.

 

No damage or aftershock was expected from the Batanes quake, Phivolcs said.

 

- KBK, GMANews.TV

 

 

MILD QUAKE ROCKS CAMIGUIN — Phivolcs

 

(03/04/2010 | 12:36 PM - GMA News.TV)

 

A mild magnitude-3 quake rocked parts of Camiguin Island in Mindanao shortly after midnight Wednesday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said Wednesday.

 

Phivolcs said there was no damage reported and no aftershocks expected in the quake that was recorded at 12:16 a.m. Thursday.

 

The epicenter was traced to 25 km northeast of Mambajao in Camiguin.

 

Phivolcs said the quake was tectonic in origin.

 

- RSJ, GMANews.TV

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation in Chile on 4.3.10 - BBC World news

 

UPDATES OF THE SITUATION IN CHILE ON 4 MARCH 2010 FROM BBC

 

CHILE QUAKE RECONSTRUCTION 'TO TAKE UP TO FOUR YEARS'

 

Page last updated at 16:03 GMT, Thursday, 4 March 2010

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8550140.stm

 

Chile's reconstruction will take "three to four years" as the country recovers from the earthquake that killed some 800 people, its president has said.

 

"There are rural areas where everything has tumbled to the ground... infrastructure has been destroyed," Michelle Bachelet told Chilean radio.

 

It would take international aid and most of the next government's mandate to rebuild, Ms Bachelet added.

 

President-elect Sebastian Pinera is set to take over from her next week.

 

The cost of the damage, which Ms Bachelet described as "enormous", has so far been estimated at between $15bn and $30bn.

 

"Chile has the resources for a number of actions, but we will have to ask for credit from the World Bank and other entities," Ms Bachelet said.

 

Mr Pinera said his government would be one of reconstruction, with a plan of four clear stages - "to cope with the emergency needs of citizens, find people who are still missing, provide prompt and timely assistance to the sick and wounded, and restore law and order so that people can return to peace".

 

TREMORS

 

On Wednesday, strong aftershocks of magnitude 5.5 and higher were felt in several cities, including Santiago, and prompted tsunami warnings, which were later lifted.

 

An 18-hour nightly curfew remains in place in Concepcion, Chile's second largest city, and six other towns badly affected by the earthquake.

 

Officials say 799 people are confirmed to have died, but there are reports of many people still missing in the coastal town of CONSTITUCION.

 

About two million Chileans are believed to have been affected by Saturday's 8.8 magnitude earthquake, the seventh most powerful on record and the worst disaster to befall Chile in 50 years.

 

The epicentre of the quake was 115km north-east of Concepcion and 325km south-west of the capital Santiago.

 

About 1.5 million homes in Chile have been damaged.

 

Most of the collapsed buildings were of older design - including many historic structures.

 

 

CHILEANS BITTER ABOUT QUAKE RESPONSE

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8548774.stm / by Will Grant, BBC News, Concepcion

 

Some four-and-a-half days after one of the largest earthquakes in recent history struck the province of CONCEPCION, and several nearby fishing villages were swept away by the subsequent tsunami, aid is now beginning to reach the affected region.

 

For days, we have seen trucks loaded with drinking water, basic food and mattresses on their way to the city, yet there was scant evidence of any major aid distribution on the ground.

 

It has been clear from chatting to the people living in the most precarious conditions in Concepcion - those who are camping in the streets in tents for fear of re-entering their quake-damaged houses - that they feel abandoned by the authorities in the wake of the disaster.

 

However, the Chilean government says it has been working hard to make sure the assistance reaches the places it is most needed.

 

The Trebol shopping mall, on the outskirts of CONCEPCION, is normally thronged with people buying the weekly groceries or visiting the hardware stores on the complex.

 

But today its car park looks very different. Guarded at every entrance by armed soldiers, the mall is the main distribution point for the regional aid effort.

 

As helicopters whirr overhead, hundreds of troops, firemen and civilian volunteers are packing shopping bags with basic goods which are then shipped out to the worst-affected areas.

 

Tonnes of rice, pasta, flour, cooking oil and salt are stacked up alongside other necessary basics like tents, sleeping bags and nappies. The car park is buzzing as fork-lift trucks criss-cross the forecourt, delivering fresh loads to eager volunteers.

 

'MODEL OF COOPERATION'

 

As his troops are loading up shopping bags with emergency supplies behind him, the ranking officer, Col Ramirez, has no time for the suggestion that the reaction has been too slow.

 

This is exemplary," he says, motioning around him, "a model of the kind of co-operation between the military and civil society which we must repeat everywhere if we're to overcome this catastrophe."

 

Some 400 government trucks have been despatched to this aid centre, with the vast majority of them already in Concepcion. In total, 16,000 tonnes of emergency supplies have arrived and the international community has also responded in recent days with particular help coming from the countries of Latin America.

 

Paulo Gutierrez is a representative of the national government who is working on delivering aid to Dichato, one of the nearby coastal towns washed away by the tsunami.

 

"I can understand the feelings of the people who say we've reacted slowly" he admits. "But at the same time, this was a disaster of such magnitude that the government has also never had to deal with an event like this before."

 

Explaining that the materials he was packing up would be airlifted to the devastated fishing village by helicopter, Paulo is adamant that the local and national authorities are doing everything they can.

 

"The next stage will be getting these items to the people and we're going to work as hard as we can until that's done."

 

But others are less impressed with the emergency response so far. Just a short drive from the supermarket forecourt is one of the numerous tent villages sprouting up across this city.

 

'WHERE IS OUR HELP'

 

Under the shelter of a motorway bridge, around two dozen families are surviving on what little clean water and food they can find, as they refuse to return to their homes until they have been made safe.

 

One of them, a young mother of two called Carina Venagas, is beginning to feel bitter about how quickly Chile offered help to Haiti following its massive earthquake earlier this year.

 

"With other countries, the President [Michelle Bachelet] and the state politicians told us that Chileans should be like brothers and extend the hand of help in their hour of need," she said.

 

"But where are our brothers? Where is our help? There are people drinking contaminated river water here, there are people who are ill. But there's been no doctors, no fresh water, nothing."

 

Meanwhile, the threat of further seismic activity continues to haunt the city. As the aid workers were taking a short break from loading the goods, there was a 5.9 aftershock which rocked Concepcion.

 

In the confusion of the ensuing minutes, a tsunami warning was reportedly issued creating panic in the streets and sending many residents running in fear.

The alarm was soon declared false, but those moments of mass hysteria revealed a city which is still very tense, and still anxious for help to arrive.

 

 

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20100304/twl-tsunami-alert-rattles-quake-hit-chil-4bdc673.html

 

by Claire Rosemberg 4.3.10

 

Powerful aftershocks sent terrified people scrambling for the hills in tsunami-prone coastal areas in Chile as aid began to pour into towns after the army managed to quell looting.

 

Four days after giant waves swept hundreds to their death, two powerful aftershocks, with magnitudes of 5.9 and 6.0, triggered a brief new tsunami warning Wednesday along the stretch of Chile's central coast worst hit on Saturday.

 

Thousands of traumatized earthquake survivors rushed to higher ground as troops ushered them up hillsides. The alert was lifted less than 30 minutes later.

 

Ignacio Gutierrez, from a Chilean television station, was driving into the devastated seaside resort of Constitucion when people fleeing stopped his car and shouted: "Run, run there is a tsunami."

 

Nelson Muna was bringing food and water for victims when he heard the sirens wailing and was confronted by a scene of utter panic: "We saw soldiers running, everyone running out of town. Even the soldiers were scared."

 

Another 6.1 magnitude aftershock struck late Wednesday in central Chile, one of nearly 200 to rattle the South American nation since Saturday's massive 8.8 temblor.

 

The panic came just as thousands of troops, with the help of a strict curfew, finally appeared to have restored some semblance of normality in CONCEPCION, Chile's second city, after days of post-quake unrest.

 

Traffic lights blinked on and neon signs came back to life as electricity returned and one of the area's biggest supermarkets announced it was opening for business.

 

With armored military vehicles guarding strategic points, food rations were being distributed by soldiers and volunteers in an orderly way, easing public anxiety after days when locals were left to defend themselves from armed gangs and arson attacks.

 

Deputy Interior Minister Patricio Rosende said more than 8,000 tons of relief aid have been distributed so far in affected areas, with another 174 tons ready for aerial and overland distribution on Thursday and 700 tons by two navy ships.

 

But families in the more remote parts of the surrounding Maule and Bio Bio regions complained they were being ignored and called desperately for supplies and medicine for children suffering from fevers and other ailments.

 

"In the countryside, we have received nothing," said Juana Rodriguez, a resident of Puerta Verde, a hamlet of 36 families not far from Constitucion.

"We need water, diapers, milk," she pleaded.

 

On Wednesday, the official death toll from the quake and the tsunami it unleashed rose to 802.

 

The majority of the new deaths were reported in the region north of Concepcion called MAULE, where nearly 600 people have been confirmed dead.

 

The toll, so far largely made up of people killed in the tsunami that followed the quake, is expected to rise sharply as coastal areas account for hundreds of missing.

 

In the seaside resort of Constitucion, before Wednesday's tsunami alert, sobbing relatives visited the morgue to identify swollen remains. Seven unidentified corpses in advanced stages of decomposition were listed as "NN," or "No Name."

 

"Most of the bodies are badly bloated and mutilated, difficult to identify. The stench is terrible," said an army lieutenant. "We're expecting more."

 

The handwritten list on a large white board propped against the morgue fence showed 78 dead from the tsunami that razed low-lying areas of a town that was a holiday paradise before disaster struck.

 

The head of the mayor's office said around 100 people were confirmed dead, but that at least 300 more were missing and feared dead in CONSTITUCION alone.

 

Despite being one of Latin America's richest countries, Chile has struggled to cope with the scale of a catastrophe thought to have cost it tens of billions of dollars.

 

President Michelle Bachelet, who has deployed 14,000 troops to the disaster zone, addressed the nation again on Wednesday, laying out in detail the extent of the damage.

 

"The reconstruction task will be enormous," said Bachelet, admitting many of Chile's lifeline industries, from agriculture and fishing to tourism and trade, had been decimated by the disaster.

 

From other NEWS SITES:

 

France24 CHILE: Powerful aftershocks hamper post-quake aid efforts - 4.3.2010

 

IAfrica.com Alert rattles Chileans - 4.3.2010

 

Reuters Chile keeps shaking, rattling survivors - 4.3.2010

 

Sky News Strong Quake Aftershock Hits Central Chile - 4.3.2010

[nancyk58]

Updates of the situation in Chile on 4.3.10 / news from GMA News.TV

 

News in relation to the CHILE earthquake from Filipino GMA News.TV on 4.3.10

 

CHILE MILITARY DELIVERS AID, BUT FIRST HELPS ITS OWN

 

(03/04/2010 | 09:04 AM - GMA News.TV)

 

CONCEPCION, Chile – Four days after a deadly earthquake, Chile's military finally rolled out a MASSIVE HUMANITARIAN AID EFFORT Wednesday that promised to improve an image long associated with dictatorship-era repression.

 

The dump trucks that soldiers spent all night helping fill with bags of food made their first deliveries in a neighborhood of military families who already had enough to eat.

 

After days of looting, rifle-toting troops occupied nearly every block of hard-hit CONCEPCION on Wednesday, enforcing a CURFEW that expired at noon with checkpoints throughout the city. With the streets more secure, they focused on AID.

 

Soldiers had worked overnight stuffing basics including flour, canned beans, cooking oil and tea into hundreds of plastic bags that volunteers loaded into dump trucks. Municipal workers then distributed the bags to survivors, many of whom had gone without fresh food or drinking water since Saturday's quake.

 

The convoy rolled minutes after the curfew expired — the first of many to deploy throughout the disaster area, army Lt. Col. Juan Carlos Andrades said.

 

Its first stop: A neighborhood inhabited by military families, next to army headquarters in Concepcion.

 

"This entire block belongs to the army," said Yanira Cifuentes, 31, the very first to get aid. She said her husband is an officer.

 

Cifuentes said the aid was welcome after days of sleeping in tents and sharing food with neighbors over a wood fire. But she also said the neighborhood hadn't gone hungry because residents had access to food at the regiment.

 

"Until now we have been OK, sharing everything with each other," she said.

 

Military officers who refused to give their names insisted their families were suffering, too, and said many soldiers have been working around the clock since the quake not knowing how their loved ones fared. Still, it was unclear who ordered the first food delivery to the military housing on General Novoa Avenue.

 

Army Cmdr. Antonio Besamat said LOCAL AUTHORITIES controlled FOOD DISTRIBUTION, with the ARMED FORCES providing only SECURITY. Juan Piedra, of the National Emergency Office, said civilian officials must follow military decisions under terms of the state of emergency declared by President Michelle Bachelet.

 

Some residents were angry not at the troops but at the local government, which had announced Tuesday that none of the first aid shipments would go to neighborhoods inhabited by people who took goods from ruined stores. Many of those neighborhoods are Concepcion's poorest.

 

"Aid should reach those who have nothing first," said Luis Sarzosa, 47, a heavy equipment operator. "The well-off always get things first and the people with nothing, they leave to the side."

 

His sister Marcela Sarzosa, a 44-year-old homemaker who lives across the train tracks from a huge supermarket whose looting by hundreds of her neighbors sparked more widespread break-ins in Concepcion, said: "I didn't loot anything. Who's going to help me?"

 

Survivors had cheered the troops' arrival and the restoration of order in streets still littered with rubble, downed power lines and destroyed cars. Citizens' applause — mixed with cries of "Finally!" — have soldiers proud of their role in keeping the peace, a welcome feeling for many in Chile's armed forces who have generally not been used for police work during 20 years of democracy.

 

Since the bloody 1973-1990 dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet, many Chileans have preferred that soldiers stay inside their barracks. But police were overwhelmed when looting began after the quake, and Bachelet took the unprecedented step on Sunday of declaring an emergency that turned 14,000 soldiers into peacekeepers in their own country.

 

Aid from the national government had begun to reach some small communities around Concepcion by helicopter Tuesday, but the distribution effort became visible to the rest of the public only Wednesday with the convoy of seven dump trucks delivering food bags.

 

The food was donated by the government and businesses including the Lider Hipermart chain — a subsidiary of Wal-Mart — whose one store in Concepcion that wasn't looted has now been comandeered by the Chilean military.

 

C-17 transport planes were delivering more food and troops to Concepcion, and some 150 military trucks were being deployed in the disaster area. Military helicopters ferried DISASTER AID from the city to smaller towns and villages along the Pacific coast that were destroyed by the tsunami. In nearby Talcahuano, a FIELD HOSPITAL was erected to relieve pressure on a quake-damaged hospital in Concepcion, and local government officials were distributing 17,000 meal rations.

 

Saturday's magnitude-8.8 quake and tsunami ravaged a 700-kilometer (435-mile) stretch of Chile's Pacific coast. Downed bridges and damaged or debris-strewn highways made transit difficult if not impossible in many areas. The official death toll reached 802 on Wednesday.

 

Amid continuing aftershocks, officials installed barriers around more tall buildings in Concepcion, including a 20-story skyscraper whose heavily damaged upper floors are now leaning over Bernardo O'Higgins Avenue.

 

Most businesses in Concepcion were still closed, with power and water only slowly coming back in scattered areas. Many survivors still had to take river water in buckets to flush toilets.

 

In Lota, a town of 50,000 where tent camps have sprouted, officials took water from the Rio Negro and trucked it to needy neighborhoods, urging residents to boil it before using it.

 

In Chile's capital of Santiago, air force chief Gen. Ricardo Ortega said he had planes ready to deliver aid just two hours after the quake but had to wait for Bachelet's emergency declaration Sunday. Bachelet said that Ortega was "badly informed" and that an air force helicopter wasn't ready for her to inspect damage until nearly six hours after the quake.

 

Seeking to end squabbling over the government's performance — the navy conceded it should have issued a tsunami alert — Bachelet declared: "Enough with pointing fingers. The main problem is helping the people." - AP