Corrugated City

Wednesday 8 August 2007

Earthquake!

So i'm just sitting here, minding my own business, drinking a cup of tea and reading the morning 'paper when along comes a little tremor...that slowly turns into an earthquake and then calms back down to being just a little tremor. I'm pretty used to the regular tremors that Chile suffers these days but this one was the strongest and longest i've felt. It wasn't major, at first guess i'm going to say a little over 5.0 on the Richter Scale (i'll confirm later). The flat we're in got a bit shaky and the apartment block they're building across the way wobbled a bit. I assume the house in Valpo held up without any problems, especially after all the structural repairs we've done over the last couple of months. And we've just had a little after shock. Life in Chile is never dull.

**Update: Despite newspaper reports stating that the tremor was around 4 on the Richter Scale and that it lasted just 10 seconds, The National Emergency Institute begs to differ and puts it at 5.1. And i beg to differ of the length-it lasted a minute or so...

***Further update: We went to see how work was getting on at the house in Valpo and asked how it stood up to the earthquake. The answer? The workers didn't even feel it, the second time that's happened in the last couple of months. Solid as a rock the old girl. It'd explain why it has already survived two of Chile's worst earthquakes in 1906 and 1985 with barely a scratch.

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