Chile's Earthquake Region

We went on a fantastic trip this week into the heart of the region de terremoto. There is little damage visible except in the psyche of the people. Most toppled/damaged buildings are now rebuilt or empty lots. In Concepcion where the damage was severe and there was looting and anarchy for weeks before the military came in, the people are downtrodden still. Things are locked up tight at night and you can feel the distrust.

The area along the coast is just gorgeous and as we were on some really back roads, we saw some interesting sights. Like Oregon, the economy is driven by fishing and logging. There is also a lot of agriculture. The pictures are in scattered order because I can't organize them using my iPad.

Dichata was the hit by a 30-ft tsunami wave that returned four times (diminishing each time)! Much of the town was wiped out but only a few deaths, mostly of tourists who did not know to evacuate. Chileans living along the coast do not hesitate to evacuate to high ground if they feel an earthquake. In Dichato there is some rebuilding along the waterfront and lots of relocation housing being built on high ground. These new settlements (common in most coastal towns) are ticky-tack homes in orderly rows with little to no variability and no one is living in them. Along the waterfront in Dichato they built a huge, and very attractive, engineered sea wall with a beautiful promenade along the top. People were enjoying this feature (see police patrolling along the new wall-the tsunami was as high as the light standards behind them).

Scott is meeting with a bunch of ministers of different utilities and finding out some fascinating details about their recovery. Like fishermen faired the best since they are very self reliant, were able to communicate via radio, and were able to get back out fishing almost immediately after the earthquake. Communication breakdowns were the biggest cause of trouble (no power=no cell phones). Oregon needs to invest in satellite phones!!!