8.5 earthquake hits near Concepcion, Chile

[pam]

There's no link yet that I can find to an article as it just happened a short time ago. But will be interesting to follow. I'm going to assume there will be much devastation.

[pam]

Just found this. Not much info yet.

Tsunami warning issued for Chile, Peru after quake - washingtonpost.com

[pam]

Some news reports are now reporting it at 8.8.

[personne]

It is really sad....................

[Lbybug]

Magnitude 8.8 - OFFSHORE MAULE, CHILE

it's been recorded as 8.8 and reached pretty far. very sad.

[Lbybug]

looks like there's been 6.2 and 6.9 aftershocks too

Latest Earthquakes M5.0+ in the World - Past 7 days

[Jenamarie]

My ward has a young man serving his mission in Santiago. I'm anxious to hear from the church if all the missionaries serving there are okay.

[pam]

There are so many missionaries down in those areas. Plus Concepcion is where one of the new temples is to be built.

[pam]

Massive quake, aftershocks hit Chile; at least 122 dead - CNN.com

Even Hawaii had alarms going off warning of possible Tsunami.

[john doe]

I went to school with the mission president in in the Santiago West Mission. His wife reports that all missionaries in that mission are safe.

[Maya]

Be safe around the areas affected!

There has been quite a few earthquakes lately. okinava was 7r yesterday:

Latest Earthquakes in the World - Past 7 days

[Wingnut]

My ward has a young man serving his mission in Santiago. I'm anxious to hear from the church if all the missionaries serving there are okay.

One of my mission companions has parents serving in Santiago right now. She hasn't heard specifically from them yet, but has obviously been earnestly seeking information. As far as she has been able to tell, all the missionaries are safe.

I was at a friend's home this morning for brunch. She is Chilean, and was running very far behind because she spent 4 hours trying to get in touch with her father and other family members. Finally she heard from her sister in NY, who told her that everyone in their family is accounted for, except for their father (but that's not unusual, as he often doesn't communicate with family and can drop off their radar without warning).

Edited February 27, 2010 by Wingnut
typo

[BenRaines]

Interesting comments made by those there. Said the face of the land has changed. That homes have fallen or been washed to sea. Where have I heard those words before?

My son is in Hawaii at school. He was woken at 3 AM Hawaii time to prepare all the students in the dorms that he is over in married housing to prepare in the event of a tsunami. His place is up near the temple and out of the danger zone. He may have a good view of the impact if or when the tsunami hits.

Ben Raines

[Wingnut]

Interesting comments made by those there. Said the face of the land has changed. That homes have fallen or been washed to sea. Where have I heard those words before?

Yeah, it's pretty crazy. My friend told me that the epicenter was about 300 miles south of Santiago, but it still leveled buildings in Santiago. I've been checking the LDS Newsroom, but haven't seen anything there yet.

One of my big concerns is that there won't be enough resources to care for the people in Chile, because there are still so many being diverted to Haiti. However, Chile is much more developed and self-sufficient than Haiti is, and they have far better infrastructure. My friend heard that the president of Chile made a statement to the effect of not needing or wanting outside help, that they could handle things themselves.

[zippy_do46]

I have a very dear friend who is waiting for info on her son in Santiago North Mission. I taught him in one my Nursery classes. Has anyone heard anything about the North Mission?

[Wingnut]

Live feed from Hawaii regarding tsunami warning: hitsunami on USTREAM: A Live stream of Local news of the Hawaii Tsunami of February 27, 2010. Breaking News

[pam]

One of my big concerns is that there won't be enough resources to care for the people in Chile

I agree that resources are stretched thin, however, if the First Presidency announced need in helping the people in the affected areas, members will step up to the plate as always and dig deeper to help.

[Honor]

Tsunami warnings all throughout the Pacific. Just read that waves hit French Polynesia but didn't do much. I'm hoping this is the same for the rest of the Pacific Islands. My sister is in the Marshall Islands. Haven't heard from her yet, but don't expect a need to worry there.

[Wingnut]

I heard the Easter Islands were pretty much wiped out.

[pam]

I did a google search and this is the only thing I found on Chile's Easter Island:

Partial evacuation of Chile's Easter Island ordered | ABS-CBN News Online Beta

[talisyn]

All my fingers and toes are crossed right now, I hope it's itty bitty waves for Hawaii.

[pam]

California and Alaska are under tsunami advisory.

[pam]

It's interesting to read some of the articles about Military kinds of things. I was reading one article where they are sending most of the ships in Pearl Harbor out to sea. I remember being in Hawaii for Hurricane Iniki and it was the strangest thing not seeing a ship or a plane on any of the bases as they sent them somewhere else.

[candyprpl]

O my goodness! My grand-nephew is serving his mission in Chile -- I need to contact my sister and see if she's heard anything.

[Wingnut]

Regarding the missionaries -- there's nothing yet in the LDS Newsroom, but there is an update on the Church News website:

"Here is what we know so far: eight of the Church’s nine Chilean mission presidents have checked in and are reporting all missionaries are safe and accounted for. We are still trying to reach the mission president in the Concepción mission, which is closest to the epicenter and two missionaries on the Juan Fernandez Islands off the coast of Chile. We will provide more information as it becomes available."

Full article

I am amazed at the detail included in this quote -- they are accounting for missions as a whole, but they also know that there are two lone missionaries on a tiny set of Islands that they are worried about accounting for.