Help for Chile
(Photo by: mein_arkengel / CC BY 2.0)
As many of you may know, Chile was struck with a huge earthquake on February 28th, 2010. It is one of the biggest ever recorded in history with a magnitude of 8.8 on the Richter scale, that lasted for about 30 seconds. This region of the world is not unknown to have massive quakes, the biggest ever recorded in the 20th century was here some 50 years ago with a magnitude of 9.5. The devastation of this nation has been apparent with graphic images of crumbled buildings, devastated families and lost lives splashed throughout various medias, more than 800 died and 2 million people displaced from their homes. With every earthquake aftershocks are expected, with one of this magnitude there have been a series of aftershocks ever since that day, 3 occurring just yesterday with scales of 6.0, 6.9 and 7.2. Areas around Chile have been affected as well, with the quakes even causing a tsunami warning in Hawaii (albeit, the waves turned out to be much smaller than expected, approx. 3 ft, and no loses were apparent). Chile’s massive earthquake, and continued destruction, is much larger on the scale than that of Haiti, however since Chile is a known spot for large quakes as it near the Nazca and South American tectonic plates, then their infrastructure is designed in case of such events, which made the death toll much smaller than that of Haiti (a toll that is now around 200,000 presumed dead).
If you want to help Chile in any way, there are a variety of forms you can do this. One of which is texting, the Mobile Giving Foundation has set-up many lines for you to text some money to, much like what was done for Haiti, where 100% of your money goes to aid. For the list of numbers to text to and organizations that are aiding in Chilean relief you can go here or here.
If you have a loved one near this disaster or know of someone, google has helped set-up a person finder for the Chile earthquake.
With so much devastation going on worldwide, it is important that we all come together to help one another.
Jen.
March 12, 2010It is heartbreaking to witness so much devastation in the world, I can’t imagine how it feels when the ground starts shaking and you fear for your life. My thoughts are with everyone who is trying to survive and thrive after such trauma.