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Rescue workers help an injured woman in Concepcion, Chile, 500 km south of Santiago, trapped by the 8.8-magnitude earthquake. (Francesco Degasperi/AFP/Getty Images)
The 8.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Chile in the early hours on Feb. 27 has destroyed buildings, bridges, houses, and left thousands of people without communications.
Mrs. María Uliantzeff, 70, felt the quake in Algarrobo, a coastal village in central Chile roughly 425 miles from the earthquake epicenter and 110 miles from the capital of Santiago.
Two men walk past a building in Valparaiso that was heavily damaged by a huge 8.8-magnitude earthquake that rocked Chile early on February 27, 2010. (Felipe Gamboa/AFP/Getty Images)
María said the earthquake awoke her from sleep, but at the time she didn’t think too much about it since she had felt many earthquakes in her life, some extremely strong, like the devastating one in 1960.
Known as the most powerful earthquake ever recorded, the Great Chilean Earthquake recorded 9.5 on the Richter scale causing over 3,000 deaths with damages estimated at $400-$800 million. The aftereffects included several tsunamis, the largest of which devastated the Hawaiian town of Hilo. The earthquake caused waves as high as 35 ft up to 10,000 miles from the epicenter.
Tourists huddle in blankets outside of a hotel in Vina del Mar, Chile, destroyed by huge 8.8-magnitude earthquake. (Martin Bernetti/AFP/Getty Images)
Since her home is made of wood, María said she did not feel the movements of the recent quake so strongly, but when she got up out of bed, she found her house in disarray. After checking that she was fine, she began calling family members. However, soon the telephone lines went dead.
Several hour later, police came to evacuate Algarrobo, but María stayed behind because her house is in an elevated area. After the earthquake, the sea retreated significantly causing great fear of tsunami damage, but the waves fortunately only reached a height of 10 feet from her estimation.
A cyclist stands near the destroyed San Francisco church in Curico, 250 km south of Santiago, Chile, wrecked by the 8.8-magnitude earthquake. (Martin Bernetti/AFP/Getty Images)
Tsunami warnings in the area are quite common after strong tremors or earthquakes, so people there know what to do to find safe shelter and only run if the sirens sound.
María’s daughter Anna, experienced the earthquake off the coast of Con Con, in neighboring Viña del Mar, Valparaíso, an area that suffered great material losses during an earthquake in March 1985, when several buildings collapsed in sandy areas.
Cars are seen flipped over after a bridge collapsed in Santiago due to a huge 8.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Chile. (Martin Bernetti/AFP/Getty Images)
"It was very, very strong," repeated María, still in shock. "In this area, people are now returning to normal … after being up all night."
The earthquake hit at 3:34 am local time.
Andrea Oyanguren from the capital of Santiago said her apartment on the sixth floor was a mess, with the TV falling down, yet no one was injured in the building. However, she was not aware of the extent of the damage for others because she was without power and consistent communications. Compared to other earthquakes she has experienced she said, this one "was very, very strong."
María’s granddaughter, Natalia Bertucelli, was on a bus the night of the quake, travelling from Ancud—an island town on the Isla Grande’s northern coast—to Santiago to catch a flight on Sunday.
During the trip, they passed very near the epicenter. Everything was broken, said her family, and they were stuck for 6 hours in a bus. The bus door was jammed and the situation was chaotic in the area.
Eventually, they were able to continue their journey, but were unsure if they’d make it across to the Chilean mainland given that many bridges had collapsed.
