Wow, 8.8! That's incredible. I know the scale goes up to 10, but I don't remember one this high before, although I'm sure there has been.
Tsunami warnings for the entire Pacific basin. NudeYorker -- your place is Hawaii, is it on the coast? Hopefully not the south or east side.
Believe me, it wasn't pretty. Looking at newspapers on the Internet, I was disgusted at how they lied. True, Santiago was relatively unscathed and Concepcion had a small amount of damage considering the magnitude of the quake; however, parts of roads, bridges and homes in many places were destroyed. The top news purveyors, made little mention of the emotional toll which not so much the main quake gave; but, the numerous after-shocks. As of Tuesday morning, there were still waves being felt, less than the initial jolts; they still cause the tensing of every muscle in the body, with edgy fear that what remains will come crashing down- another truck or car will disappear into a new hole in the ground, another home will collapse.
Many small villages which aren't part of the main tour route, have been devastated. The residents had little in the way of possessions to begin with and now are without even that. The small villages, are not built by the same standard as the hi-rises and luxury buildings of the larger cities.
It's too bad the media hasn't put more effort into showing the areas which were hit hard. Instead they show a handful of images with buildings leaning in perilous manner, as a way of showing how little was damaged and how even with damage, these buildings have a construction which will keep them from toppling over completely. They show looting- excuse me, the people need food and are scared, they aren't, (at least the majority aren't) physically injuring others. They go in, grab flour, rice, nutritional necessities, they aren't all running through town taking electronics or clothing. They need food, the storekeepers aren't there, the food is. These aren't common thieves, these are people who want to stay alive, seeking a way to survive; to give their children, their sick and their elderly family members a basic meal to ensure they live another day.
Chile will recover, the people have it in them to rebound and rebuild.