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On February 27th Chile suffered the third strongest earthquake on the history of humankind, lots of thing happened that day, and even more crazy stuff would follow, still after months i still find it hard to sintetize all that i tought and saw. This is an attempt to summarize what happened, just so if i can live long enough maybe sometime i can read all this and always remember what happened when the earth did anything, but stood still. And also, to let "TL" to know about it, after all, Ive also read about things i would have never know without this forums.
Also, i dont own a camera, well, i do now but i didnt at the time, so most of the pictures are from friends or random people.
![[image loading]](http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/3140/c2222522745.jpg)
At around 11 pm I went to a friends house to play some poker, my friend, nickname Yugo, had recently went trough a leg surgery so he had a case on his leg an needed a cane to walk, it was a pretty standard night, weve all known eachother since like 3th grade and we were mostly goofing around cause theyre all just a bunch of callstation and nits, plus it was like a 2 dollar buyin so it was more about pissing each other off than the money, hell, even the chips were mine :p.
Everything went smoothly till 3:30 am, i talked with D (the friend who drove me there) about going home and we agreed to wait till 4, some hours laters well realize that decision saved our lifes.
At 3:44 exactly it was Nicolas turns to deal but he decided to get up and get some drinks.. then he said "...Dude, seems like its shaking.."
...Now before i go on you must understand this, i live in Chile, a Country that has history with earthquakes, all of our fathers suffered the 60s Earthquake and we are pretty used to some strong "shakings" from now and then, what im trying to say is that, what most of you would consider an earthquake, to a Chilean is pretty much just a "temblor".
So anyway, after he said that, most of us were like, "lol earthquake" and went to continue playing.. at least for the next 3 seconds cause then SHIT HIT THE FAN, you see, when the earth started to move no one got worried, but 5 seconds later the lights went out and THAT NEVER HAPPENS, so we go like "Conchatumadre esta wea es fuerte" (Holy shit this one is strong) and we realized, at first mostly by instinct and then knowingly, that we needed to go someplace safe within the house. And this is when things really became chaotic.
Nicolas yelled, "..everybody stick together and DONT GO OUTSIDE", well, me and D followed his advice, and, even if we didnt want to after the first 15 seconds standing still was pretty much impossible so we stood there, near the entrance holding each other by the shoulder, i had one wall and D´s right shoulder, he had my left and Nicolas right, Nico was grabbed to the opposite wall, yup, we were a fucking conga line but at that time it seemed like pretty much the only thing we could do.
Now, if you have ever been on an old train, walking trough wagons, im pretty sure you can get what "shaky" means, now multiply that over 1000 and you can get the idea of whatthe hell we were goin trough, worst thing? IT DIDNT STOP, IT NEVER FUCKING STOPS, we all remained calm but after like a minute I just started yelling "MOTHERFUCKER THIS SHITS IS FUCKING LONG", at which Nico replied "JUST STAY CALM!!! STAY CALM"... -"WELL I AM CALM BUT FOR FUCKS SAKE THIS NEVER ENDS!!!".
I tought of Haiti, i tought of what all those kids felt, we were helpless, theres nothing you can do, when the earth wants to fuck with you. theres NOT A THING you can do, you are simply useless. I tought, "so maybe this is how it ends, this is how i die, and tomorrow there would be big news all over the world about this and ill just be another number on the death toll and no one would know or care about me. I tought about my girlfriend, will she survive this? was she alive at this moment?.. Im gonna die? Oh fuck im gonna die... well if im gonna die, FUCK IT.
And then it stopped... "Is everybody allright?", we three were, we looked back at the table, but mostly, we looked at Daniel You see, my friend Daniel was sitting between the table and the window, so when we "escaped" to safety he wasnt able to follow us so he just went under the table and crossed his arms over his head, but 3 minutes later, when he looked back up, there was no table :p It was like a meter away from him all covered with broken glass.
But where were the others? One of my friends, Alvaro, came back from the outside, he had a semi panic/asthma attack but managed to control it, Fernando also ran outside but inmediately came back when it stopped. But Yugo, Yugo was nowhere to be found...
To Survive:
1-Most stuff you have learned about earthquakes means shit on a real one. Remember that safety triangle thing? UTTER CRAP, nobody did that and it would have helped no one because most thing you use for your protection wont be there when the earthquake stops.
2.Getting on the doors?, works.. MAYBE, unless your whole house falls apart (which HAPPENS).
Protips:
1-Get the fuck away from ANY WALL, the nephew of one of my moms coworkers lost both of his legs because of a wall, just STAY THE FUCK AWAY from them
2-GET THE FUCK AWAY from stairs, they are fucking deathtraps and their behaviours on earthquake is simply chaotic, and if you NEED to use one be extremely aware that you will trip and fall.
3. Best advice? Just go outside, i know A LOT of people wont advice this but believe me, GOING Outside is pretty much the best thing you can do, just dont go on the streets or something idiotic like that, if you live in front of a small park or something like that you are pretty much safe. Trees hardly fall same as light post (they dont stand still like nothing happened but they hardly crash into the ground)
4.If you live in an apartment, well you are pretty much all in, im guessing most of you guys dont live on places with such strong seimic construction laws so if you happen to be on an apartment on a strong earthquake gotta say you are pretty much fucked. If you live on a 4th floor or lower, try to get out but always remember that the stairs are DEATH TRAPS.
But most of all, whatever you do, or thing you are doing, wont probably mean a thing, on a earthquake nature deals you the card and before you can do anything, you are already pot committed.
![[image loading]](http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/1490/dsc01522a.jpg)
To be continued... (maybe)
 
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Dude what happened to Yugo? 
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5/5.
This contradicts almost everything they taught us at school (California, USA). All teacher were like "In the case there is a earthquake, go under your desk on cover. Wait for teacher's signal and go outside."
Really want more pointers since Global Warming created some wacky earthquake over the year. Never know when a huge one comes since I have almost no experience dealing with them.
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On October 19 2010 16:05 Subversion wrote:Dude what happened to Yugo?
Yeah, I wanna hear the rest . Keep it cominggggggggggggg
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For what reasons do people say not to go outside? I would naturally think that that would be the safest place to go.
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On October 19 2010 16:31 Teogamer wrote:
For what reasons do people say not to go outside? I would naturally think that that would be the safest place to go.
Because the teacher says a plastic desk is gonna save you lawl.
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On October 19 2010 16:31 Teogamer wrote:
For what reasons do people say not to go outside? I would naturally think that that would be the safest place to go.
Unstable roads, buildings smashing on you ;o
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On October 19 2010 16:08 LunarDestiny wrote:
Really want more pointers since Global Warming created some wacky earthquake over the year. Never know when a huge one comes since I have almost no experience dealing with them.
Wait what?
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We had a 7.1 on september the 4th and it lasted like 1.5 minutes, it was pretty intense though i'm sure it was nothing like the one in Chile. The thing is we are still getting multiple aftershocks a day!
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so we go like "Conchatumadre esta wea es fuerte" (Holy shit this one is strong)
this kinda cracked me up but I doubt it was funny for you guys. Hope everything turned out well for your friends and family.
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As far as I can recall Holland hasn't been struck by an earthquake since like forever?
But if I ever were to be in an earthquake go out first is the first important thing to do and stay the **** away from walls / stairs.
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I live in Georgia, we never get earthquakes and living semi-close to Atlanta there's never any serious damage to us from Hurricanes. Pretty much we get some flooding and the occasional tornado.
But the trade off is that I live in fucking Georgia =[.
:D
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natural disasters just do not exist for my country, so i do not understand how it would be like, i cant empathise with you, but i do sympathise your situation.
i hope your life gets back on track from the earthquake. oh btw, lucky the 33miners were out of the mines before the earthquake hit Chile eh?
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I think authorities may advise people not to go outside simply because if everyone was aware of that option, they would create a dangerous crowd panic situation similar to that of people fleeing a building on fire. Imagine if throngs of people clogged up a stairway or elevator (I'm sure there will plenty enough idiots/people out of their right mind for this) and then suffered a lethal collapse.
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On October 19 2010 16:31 Teogamer wrote:
For what reasons do people say not to go outside? I would naturally think that that would be the safest place to go.
Because the ground is incredibly hard to keep your balance on and you can easily fall over (or go flying) and hurt yourself.
I've been outside in a minor earthquake and the shaking knocked me over. (Really it was just like a 3.5) I can imagine if it were an actually strong quake that i would have probably been hurt. I was standing on the road, but i guess if i were on the ground like in a park or whatever the ground might not have shook as much.
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On October 19 2010 15:51 skindzer wrote:
Nicolas yelled, "..everybody stick together and DONT GO OUTSIDE",
On October 19 2010 15:51 skindzer wrote:
3. Best advice? Just go outside, i know A LOT of people wont advice this but believe me, GOING Outside is pretty much the best thing you can do, just dont go on the streets or something idiotic like that, if you live in front of a small park or something like that you are pretty much safe. Trees hardly fall same as light post (they dont stand still like nothing happened but they hardly crash into the ground)
So was Nicolas wrong to have said that? Or were their other circumstances I missed or weren't shared that made staying inside better?
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I too wonder and worry about your friend Yugo...
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On October 20 2010 00:10 404.Delirium wrote:Show nested quote +On October 19 2010 15:51 skindzer wrote:
Nicolas yelled, "..everybody stick together and DONT GO OUTSIDE", Show nested quote +On October 19 2010 15:51 skindzer wrote:
3. Best advice? Just go outside, i know A LOT of people wont advice this but believe me, GOING Outside is pretty much the best thing you can do, just dont go on the streets or something idiotic like that, if you live in front of a small park or something like that you are pretty much safe. Trees hardly fall same as light post (they dont stand still like nothing happened but they hardly crash into the ground)
So was Nicolas wrong to have said that? Or were their other circumstances I missed or weren't shared that made staying inside better?
Because at that time, even I had the idea that going outside was like the worst thing ever, but its way, waaay better.
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Yeah, hiding under your desk is the worst thing you can do, there is NO point at all to hiding under your desk unless it is the ONLY option. Why is it useless? here is why..
1) the only reason to hide under a desk is to stop debri from hitting your head, which probably fell from the roof.
2) should an earthquake be strong to actually accomplish this, the force of the roof hitting the desk would probably crush the desk along with you.
3) When an earthquake hits, buildings don't just topple over immediately, even the big ones in big earthquakes. There is a brief period of increasing intensity before the earthquake reaches it's peak, you will always notice small shakings before the big one hits. This gives you more than enough time to get outside before any serious damage is done.
4) once you are outside, unless you are in a major city (which means you are probably screwed either way) There should be more than enough open space to get away from buildings, even out in the middle of the street gives you higher chances. Sure the asphalt might get screwed up, but it's not like you are on a bridge where once it cracks you fall to your death, you will be ok.
The process in schools was to hide under your desk, and then WALK out slowly like a minute later, there is no point to this, the immediate reaction should be to get outside ASAP before the building potentially collapses.
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On October 20 2010 03:22 phant wrote:
The process in schools was to hide under your desk, and then WALK out slowly like a minute later, there is no point to this, the immediate reaction should be to get outside ASAP before the building potentially collapses.
There is a very important point to this. To prevent panic and confusion. In a school, you have a shit load of children who are going to immediately panic. Many will die getting trampled. By forcing the kids under the desk first(remember how heavy duty your school desks were? More than ample to protect from most average sized falling debris from a single story tar covered roof.(sucks for you if your desk is under the AC unit). Never mind the fact that you are asking CHILDREN to calmly and QUICKLY escape quickly enough to avoid getting hit by debris with no desk over your head. I know in my grade school and high school, there were parts of the school that were a 5 minute walk from an exit. Without lines.
Don't forget about shattering glass in hallways with big windows, shit flying out of lockers, off of walls, and from the hallway plenum(where the majority of the piping and wiring along with associated hardware will be.).
But, now, once all children have hidden, an adult can calmly direct them out from under the desk, into a line, and outside.
Would you say it's better to have a small number of hurt people in group of calmly organized people, or giant rampaging mess of screaming children stomping on each other.
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You people need to stop talking out your asses before you get someone killed. The ONLY time it's better to be outside is when you can get outside almost instantly, into an open field with a long space between any rocks or trees and you. And you best hope no big rocks or debris get thrown your way, and that there is nothing dangerous under you that could cause a cave-in or an explosion, like an underground water source, sewers, or gas lines.
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EPT
