Yesterday in the morning hours of Saturday before the sun had risen and people lay asleep an earthquake caused great panic and bought people to the streets. The Chile 8.8 earthquake was one of the largest earthquakes to hit the region since the year 1960 when a nine point five was recorded.
The death toll figure which was released last night has put the deaths to two hundred and fourteen while the president believes that the number is nowhere close to what it could turn out to be. A total of fifteen people have gone missing due to the Chile 8.8 earthquake and the president has declared the country to be in a state of catastrophe.
The president said that more than one and a half million people have been displaced due to the Chile 8.8 earthquake and the country is not seeking any foreign assistance as yet though the American government has stated its willingness to help if needed. A total of half a million houses have been devastated by the quake and roads and bridges have been destroyed making transportation and communication with other cities and villages extremely hard.
The Chile 8.8 earthquake was so severe that its effects were felt all the way in Brazil which is eighteen hundred miles away from the epicenter. The earthquake was followed by a number of aftershocks, some as great as the Haiti quake which destroyed the capital a couple of months ago. Chile which is based on a seismically active zone has had a history of quakes and the schools and other buildings have been designed to withstand tremors but nothing prepared them for a quake of this magnitude.
Chile 8.8 Earthquake
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