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Earthquake in Chile
Earthquake in Chile
“Chile is well-prepared”
Catherine Bragg
UN Assistant Secretary‐General and Deputy
Emergency Relief
Tue March 2nd 2010.
On Feb 27th 2010, 03:34 hrs local time, the
central zone of Chile was hit by a strong 8.8‐
Richter‐level earthquake originated near
Cauquenes Province in the Chilean 7th Region.
Major zones affected are located in the 6th, 7th,
8th regions and very few points of Valparaiso and
the Metropolitan Area of Santiago. The 14th,
10th, 11th and 12th regions which comprise what
is commonly known as the Chilean Patagonia,
and the 15th, 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th regions which
comprise what is commonly known as Atacama
and Norte Grande, all these embracing 75% of
Chilean territory remained unaffected by the
earthquake waves.
The entire operations and touristic services in
the Chilean Patagonia, Torres del Paine NP, the Lake District, Atacama Desert, San Pedro de Atacama,
Altiplano, Santiago, Valparaiso, Easter Island are totally normal and safe. Santiago City is working as
usual and recovering the few places affected by the quake, including Santiago’s International Airport,
which is the only point of real interruption at the moment. The airport by Fri March 5th was working at
30% of its capacity while recovering works are going on. The Chilean National Aeronautical Authority
expects that by March’s second week the Airport’s international terminal will be fully operative and
two weeks later its entire domestic and international operational capacity.
We encourage all world travelers coming to Chile in the next weeks with travel plans including little or
non‐affected zones like Santiago, Valparaiso, Easter Island, Atacama, Altiplano, Patagonia and the Lake
District to be confident about their plans. As soon as Santiago’s International Airport recovers its
normal capacity there is no objective reason to delay visiting Chile’s marvelous places. Moreover, when
keeping ongoing the travel plans for Chile, travelers will be contributing with the country overall
economy which indirectly helps relieve suffering in those specific zones affected by the earthquake.
Rodrigo Mata
Product & Destination Manager at Cascada Expediciones, Chile.