Life on uneven ground

Editor’s Note: Lobos Abroad is a regular column written by Daily Lobo staff members studying in a different country this semester.
It almost seemed like Concepción, Chile, didn’t want me to study abroad here.

It started with an 8.8 magnitude earthquake Feb. 27 off the coast of Concepción, and it continued during my travels here; I had three flight cancellations.

When I arrived in Concepción, I could see obvious signs of destruction, such as piles of rubble and broken glass on street corners, buildings with collapsed roofs and others that were broken in half.

By far, the most shocking evidence of the recent earthquake is the aftershocks. Since I arrived, there have been five, to me, strong aftershocks. And I say this because to the Chileans, they are nothing. The second night in Concepción, I was staying at the house of a friend, Oscar Díaz, an exchange student at UNM last year. I was staying in the third story of his house. I felt a vibration that eventually got stronger and faster, and I ran downstairs in shock/fright as soon as it happened.

“Did you feel that one?” his mother asked grinning.

I told her that I had and that I thought I shouldn’t be in the third floor in case there were more. And that just made her and her other son laugh even more. They were both sitting in the dining room calmly reading and watching TV, as if the aftershock hadn’t happened. Chileans are accustomed to the ground shaking and vibrating every couple days or weeks.

“During the day after the earthquake, there were aftershocks all day. They never stopped,” my Spanish professor Camila told me when I first arrived.

For those who haven’t felt an earthquake, it’s like being on a boat going over large waves. The up-and-down movement isn’t as strong as the side-to-side, which generally causes more damage in a strong earthquake. In my 19-story apartment building, I live on the 12th floor, where the temblors (aftershocks) are especially strong. I have a wall in my apartment that alerts me whenever there is an aftershock. It starts creaking as it moves back and forth.

The Torre Alto Rio Building serves as the most glaring example of the destruction in Concepción. It broke into two pieces, and both pieces are horizontal on the ground. According to a paper, “February 27, 2010 Chile Earthquake Reconnaissance Team Investigation,” published by the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, there are four buildings that completely collapsed in Chile and 50 buildings that needed to be demolished.

There are streets in Concepción that are closed because of buildings that have collapsed on themselves, or in one case, the upper levels of a 20-story building are pancaked on one side. Many of these buildings are still sitting in destroyed states because there is so much work to be done and not enough demolition companies to do it. Also, some of the buildings are right in the middle of downtown, so it’s a difficult task trying to tear down structures without endangering houses, buildings and people around them.

It seems as though every sidewalk and road is being re-cemented. And construction is happening on every street corner and in every building.
I live in the downtown part of Concepción, but when I venture out to the surrounding suburbs such as Hualpencillo, the evidence of destruction is even more obvious. The houses are much shorter (two stories at most) and closer to the water. The damage is probably because of poorly built buildings that, to me, look more like wood huts with tin roofs.

Volunteers help rebuild houses, and they roam the streets getting donations from pedestrians. If you want to donate money to the relief efforts visit UnTechoParachile.cl.