Chile has begun to count the cost of its deadly 8.8 magnitude earthquake as nations around the Pacific eased their fears of a devastating tsunami. The quake, on Saturday morning, killed at least 300 people - 90% of them in their homes. It is feared the damage may cost tens of billions of dollars. One major rescue effort is in the city of Concepcion, where dozens are feared trapped in a collapsed apartment block. The Pacific-wide alert for a tsunami in the wake of the quake has been lifted. Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said that two million people had been affected by the earthquake. The 8.8 quake is one of the biggest ever recorded and the largest to hit Chile in 50 years. 'Catastrophe' Many Chileans in affected areas have spent the first night since the earthquake outdoors, afraid to stay inside. AT THE SCENE Gideon Long Gideon Long, BBC News, Santiago The streets of the capital, usually buzzing with activity on a summer weekend like this, are eerily quiet and dark. Nearly 24 hours after the quake struck, whole swathes of the city have no electricity and no running water. Many people have packed up and left to stay with friends and relatives who are better off than they are. The city's new buildings seemed to have survived more or less intact. But it's the old buildings that suffered. I drove past my local church - still intact but missing its dome, which crashed to the ground when the earth began to shake. Around the city of Concepcion, whole villages have been flattened. Highways have been sliced in two and bridges have collapsed. But help is arriving. Chile has a long history of earthquakes and the authorities here know how to deal with them. Santiago shaken but spared In Concepcion, close to the epicentre, mayor Jacqueline van Rysselberghe said dozens of people were trapped in the collapsed apartment block. "Time is of the essence to save the people inside this building," she said. Rescue coordinator Commander Marcelo Plaza said: "We spent the whole night working, smashing through walls to find survivors. The biggest problem is fuel, we need fuel for our machinery and water for our people." National television showed pictures of people removing goods from supermarkets in Concepcion, Chile's second city, before police arrived to clear the crowd with tear gas and water cannon. The situation there has been described as critical. Ms van Rysselberghe said Concepcion had as yet received no food or other aid from Santiago and that it was urgently needed. Strong aftershocks have continued to rock Santiago and other areas. The epicentre of the quake was 115km (70 miles) north-east of Concepcion and 325km south-west of Santiago. Chilean officials and ministers are still trying to come to terms with the scale of the disaster. Interior Minister Edmundo Perez Yoma said it was difficult to give precise figures of a "catastrophe of immense proportions". One US risk assessor, Eqecat, put the value of the damage at between $15bn … [Read more...]
