Earthquake In Chile

First Machu Picchu; now this!

It was really weird. Around 3:30 this morning our building started to shake and sway and everything in our apartment started rattling. I was asleep for the first, major tremor but Angela was wide awake. We had no electricity so we grabbed some flashlights and got dressed. Then we did the smartest thing any couple could do at a time like this – we ate all the ice cream in the freezer before it melted then went back to sleep. There were small aftershocks for the next 4 hours after that.

8 hours later, the electricity came back on and we were awakened by the sounds of all our gadgets coming back to life. We get online and see all this doom, gloom, and disaster in the news. We had no idea the earthquake was that serious. We feel very lucky to have been safe while something like this was happening around us.

We just got back in from walking around the city taking photos. Some of the older buildings had some of there facades shaken off and some of the old churches lost their bell towers. After the electricity came back on, the water in our building was shut off. But everything – except the elevator – seems to be back to normal for us now. Our apartment is on the 14th floor so…..we get a workout every time we leave and come back.

Some highways near Santiago did collapse, the airport is closed due to some damage, and our building did shed some stucco onto the street below but the city of Santiago seems to be functioning well. An old building, probably with faulty wiring, did catch fire about a block from here earlier today.

Update: While writing this, we were hit with another aftershock. It’s much scarier when you’re wide awake, standing in your apartment.