The 2010 Chile earthquake happened off the coast of the Maule Region of Chile,on February 27, 2010 03:34 local time (06:34 UTC), with a magnitude of what was originally reported to be between 8.3 and 8.5 Mw, and has since been upgraded to a possible 8.8 Mw. It was the strongest earthquake affecting Chile since the magnitude 9.5 1960 Valdivia earthquake, and the strongest earthquake worldwide since the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.
Huge earthquake in Chile, Tsunami threatened, earthquake in Haiti, crazy cold weather in Ireland and the U.S. What is happening to our world?
In a word nothing, or at least nothing we can explain.
Of course the doomsayers say we are bound for perdition, the global warmers will say it is all a sign of impending future disasters, global coolers will point outside their windows and say see it is snowing,therefore no global climate change.
None of them know whether they are talking sense or blather.
We live in a random world,where the unexplained happens all the time,. Why does one person die and not another? Why are our lives so full of doubt and uncertainty? Some will say religion explains it all ,others that nothing does.
Neither is satisfactory because we just don't know.Sure we can speculate and in the case of religion,put forward a formidable case, but until someone returns from the other side and tells us how it is we are all just guessing.
The earthquake was also felt in the Chilean capital Santiago as well as in many[which?] Argentinean cities. Tsunami warnings were issued in 53 countries. Michelle Bachelet, President of Chile, declared a "state of catastrophe". She also confirmed the deaths of at least 78 people.
The epicenter of the earthquake was offshore from the Maule Region, approximately 8 km (5.0 miles) west of Curanipe and 115 km north-northeast of Chile's second largest city, Concepción. Also, the epicenter is less than 20 km due east from that of the 1960 Valdivia earthquake. Other cities exposed to Mercalli intensity scale intensity VIII (Destructive) shaking were Arauco, Lota and Constitución. The quake occurred at 03:34 local time, and is reported to have lasted 10–30 seconds.
