Chile: Earthquake & Tsunami
February 27, 2010
One of the Strongest Quakes Ever in
that Area
Extremely Strong Earthquake
The Event
• TALCA, Chile — One of the strongest
earthquakes ever recorded struck Chile on
Saturday, February 27, 2010, toppling homes,
collapsing bridges and plunging trucks into
the fractured earth. A tsunami threatened
every nation around the Pacific Ocean –
roughly a quarter of the globe. It was
approximately 500 times more powerful than
the earthquake that struck Haiti on January
12, 2010.
In this photo released by Chile's Presidency, Chile's
President Michelle Bachelet, right, inspects an
earthquake damaged area in Concepcion, Chile,
• A flattened vehicle is pictured amid rubble in Curico, south
of Santiago. The United States and Europe vowed to come to
Chile's aid as relief workers rushed to the Western
hemisphere's second enormous earthquake in seven weeks.
Map shows the location of today's earthquake off the
coast of Chile and the range of its most severe effects.
(Map courtesy USGS)
Chile's President Michelle Bachelet talks to an Airforce
officer and her security chief in Talca, Chile,
70 miles from the epicenter.
CONCEPTION, CHILE
• Residents look at a collapsed building in Concepcion, Chile.
he epicenter was 70 miles (115 kilometers) from Concepcion,
Chile's second-largest city.
People observe a highway and cars destroyed by an
earthquake in Concepcion
A survivor is lowered by a cable as rescue workers
search for victims after an apartment complex
collapsed during an earthquake in Concepcion
Rescue workers pull out of the rubble an earthquake
survivor in Concepcion, southern Chile.
A burning building in Conception.
200 miles from the epicenter.
SANTIAGO, CHILE: THE CAPITAL
• An apartment block leans over after an earthquake
in Santiago, the capital of Chile.
An apartment block shows major damage after an
earthquake in Santiago
Smoke from a burning building fills the sky in the outskirts
of Santiago.
Cars are seen overturned
and stuck at a collapsed
road in northern
Santiago
An overturned vehicle sits amidst rubble of a collapsed
elevated highway in Santiago,
Cars stuck on a
damaged road in
Santiago
A man carries personal
belongings as he goes
down the stairs of a
damaged house in
Santiago
A cracked wall is seen
inside a home
damaged by an
earthquake in
Santiago.
The powerful quake plunged much of Santiago into
darkness as it snapped power lines, collapsed bridges
and severed communications.
VALPARAISO, CHILE,
A car dealer building is seen partially destroyed in the city of
Valparaiso, Chile.
A man stands outside a
home destroyed in an
earthquake in Valparaiso
A man makes a purchase from the window of a shop that
was damaged by an earthquake in Valparaiso
Motorists line up for gasoline as it became difficult to find
the fuel after an earthquake in Valparaiso.
A man inspecting his home in Valparaíso after the
earthquake struck.
Residents sleep in the streets for fear of aftershocks
following a major earthquake in Valparaiso.
Fortunately, February is late summer in Chile.
A policeman speaks on his mobile phone near rubble
in Valparaiso, Chile. Rescue teams hunted for
survivors Sunday.
DAMAGE IN OTHER LOCATIONS
The remains of a hotel in Vina del Mar after part of it collapsed.
A resident walks along a damaged street in Talca, Chile,
A scene at a hospital in Talca.
One death in Talca, located south of Santiago.
A truck passes a damaged way near San Rafael,
Earthquake-damaged
buildings are shown in
Maipu, Chile,
A collapsed bridge over the Claro river is seen near
the town of Camarico, Chile
Residents camped out in San Rafael, afraid of going
back inside their houses.
TSUNAMI DAMAGES & PRECAUTIONS
Relatives of Chileans
who live in Robinson
Crusoe Island wait
nervously for the
arrival of an Air
Force plane, carrying
islanders injured by
the tsunami
generated by the
earthquake.
A resident, who was injured by the tsunami generated
by an earthquake just off the continental coast, is
helped by Chilean medics
Residents gather their belongings near a fishing boat
washed up by a wave generated by an earthquake in
Talcahuano Port, a city just outside Concepcion
Children walk past shipping containers washed up by
a wave caused by an earthquake in Talcahuano Port.
Sea water rushes into the port area of Port Ayora, in
what experts said was due to the tsunami generated
by a major earthquake in Chile, in Puerto Ayora of the
Galapagos Islands,
A Seal Beach lifeguard stops to tell a group of people
that Seal Beach, California is closed for safety reasons
after the earthquake in Chile and the possible tsunami
surge along the West Coast,
Onlookers,
watching the sea,
stand above an
empty Manly
Beach in Sydney
February 28, 2010.
Authorities closed
many beaches on
Australia's east
coast in response
to a tsunami
warning
People watch the waves on an empty Manly Beach in
Sydney at about 8:50am local time February 28, 2010
Houses are flooded in
seawater in a section of
Kesennuma, northern
Japan on Sunday Feb. 28,
2010. Japan, fearing the
tsunami could gain force as
it moved closer, put all of
its eastern coastline on
tsunami alert Sunday
AID TO THOSE AFFECTED BY THE
EARTHQUAKE