8.8 Earthquake in Chile.

[gg]

sending positive thoughts....

sigh...

[SoFlaJets]

tsunami is going to hit Hawaii around 4:20 our time...scary man

[drago]

My friend's wife was down there visiting her family. She's fine and so is her house but the city she lives in (maipu, outside of satiago) has had some major damages to brand new apartment complexes. Newspaper articles say there are over 2 million people that are currently displaced. I guess there is also a ton of looting that is nearly impossible to stop.

It's so unfortunate for such a poor country to get hit like this. At least it wasn't hit in as populated of an area as Haiti.

[Klecko73isGod]

My former business partner is from Chile and still has lots of family down there. Fortunately they are all OK.

According to him, the building codes in Chile were much more stict than in Haiti so the disaster wasn't nearly as big despite it being a bigger quake.

[Klecko73isGod]

My friend's wife was down there visiting her family. She's fine and so is her house but the city she lives in (maipu, outside of satiago) has had some major damages to brand new apartment complexes. Newspaper articles say there are over 2 million people that are currently displaced. I guess there is also a ton of looting that is nearly impossible to stop.

It's so unfortunate for such a poor country to get hit like this. At least it wasn't hit in as populated of an area as Haiti.

Chile's not that poor. They are the world's largest producer of copper.

[drago]

My former business partner is from Chile and still has lots of family down there. Fortunately they are all OK.

According to him, the building codes in Chile were much more stict than in Haiti so the disaster wasn't nearly as big despite it being a bigger quake.

I have heard that too. One of the articles I read stated how the NEWER buildings were breaking worse than the older ones. People are already forumlating law suits.

Similar stuff goes on in the US with the new houses being nice to look at but they don't have the same structural integrity as some of the older ones.

Last i heard, the death toll was at 700, I hope it stays below a 1,000 but that might be wishful thinking.

[drago]

Chile's not that poor. They are the world's largest producer of copper.

the west side of Santiago is very poor. When i was down there, it was explained to me that they were ranked third in the world for disparity of income. Kuwait was number 1. That was probably 4 years ago.

You're right though, there is a ton of wealth on the east side of Santiago and in places like La Cerena.

[The Gun Of Bavaria]

I just hope Pat Robertson can find who is responsible for this tragedy?

[Vicious89x]

the west side of Santiago is very poor. When i was down there, it was explained to me that they were ranked third in the world for disparity of income. Kuwait was number 1. That was probably 4 years ago.

You're right though, there is a ton of wealth on the east side of Santiago and in places like La Cerena.

Chile ain't poor brother. What you're talking about is something that is apparent in every single large city in the country. The reason it's SO drastic is during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet the rich got MUCH RICHER and the poor got MUUUUCH poorer. It was the rich class that wanted Socialist President Allende out of power. He took their money and placed it into social programs. When Pinochet came back into power he miraculously made all that money reappear to the rich and powerful. I know this because my moms family was very well to do. My fathers family was not and when Pinochet took over, my grandfather miraculously had money again while my fathers family were once again on the bottom rung of the social class.

Social classes existed in Chile for a very long time, and it's very apparent in Santiago, as there is a rich side and a poor side.

My mother is from Melipilla, I'd say roughly 1 hour or so from Maipu.

[Vicious89x]

My former business partner is from Chile and still has lots of family down there. Fortunately they are all OK.

According to him, the building codes in Chile were much more stict than in Haiti so the disaster wasn't nearly as big despite it being a bigger quake.

Absolutely. My grandfather on my mothers side is a contractor. He explained all of this to me about how the buildings are built to move with the earthquakes and when they collapse to collapse in a fashion to prevent the most damage possible.

He actually received phonecalls after this quake thanking him because the buildings he built still stood after it. What's incredible to me is that the epicenter is roughly 3 hours away from my parents town, and yet there was still damage.

[rillo]

I just hope Pat Robertson can find who is responsible for this tragedy?

He already did, it's the evil Chupacabra.

http://freakoutnation.com/2010/02/27/pat-robertson-chile-earthquake-result-of-pact-with-chupacabra-3/

[Bob]

I just hope Pat Robertson can find who is responsible for this tragedy?

Pat Robertson couldn't find his own ass with both hands and a map.

[faba]

Haiti is a very poor country with little gov't support. Chile has mineral properties that can be mined that help their economy.

No matter what terrible tragedies and my heart goes out to the lives lost and destroyed.

[visajets]

Chile is asking the U.S for help. What are we everyones savior? Who saves US?

Dont mean this to be political if you feel it is --DELETE

[Vicious89x]

Chile is asking the U.S for help. What are we everyones savior? Who saves US?

Dont mean this to be political if you feel it is --DELETE

Chile wasn't initially asking for help. And I believe they asked because our President offered the help prior the them asking for it.

[victorjets]

Chile ain't poor brother. What you're talking about is something that is apparent in every single large city in the country. The reason it's SO drastic is during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet the rich got MUCH RICHER and the poor got MUUUUCH poorer. It was the rich class that wanted Socialist President Allende out of power. He took their money and placed it into social programs. When Pinochet came back into power he miraculously made all that money reappear to the rich and powerful. I know this because my moms family was very well to do. My fathers family was not and when Pinochet took over, my grandfather miraculously had money again while my fathers family were once again on the bottom rung of the social class.

Social classes existed in Chile for a very long time, and it's very apparent in Santiago, as there is a rich side and a poor side.

[Thai Jet]

Pat Robertson couldn't find his own ass with both hands and a map.

Sounds like you're describing yourself.

[HessStation]

Chile's not that poor. They are the world's largest producer of copper.

Huh? How you know th..nevermind. You go Kleck!!!

[Bob]

Sounds like you're describing yourself.

It's amazing that you think you're clever.

[drago]

Chile ain't poor brother. What you're talking about is something that is apparent in every single large city in the country. The reason it's SO drastic is during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet the rich got MUCH RICHER and the poor got MUUUUCH poorer. It was the rich class that wanted Socialist President Allende out of power. He took their money and placed it into social programs. When Pinochet came back into power he miraculously made all that money reappear to the rich and powerful. I know this because my moms family was very well to do. My fathers family was not and when Pinochet took over, my grandfather miraculously had money again while my fathers family were once again on the bottom rung of the social class.

Social classes existed in Chile for a very long time, and it's very apparent in Santiago, as there is a rich side and a poor side.

My mother is from Melipilla, I'd say roughly 1 hour or so from Maipu.

Strange you guys both think that. Maybe if you look at the GDP or some other statistic but I think you need to travel to the outskirts of major cities. I saw a line of 'houses' that were merely shacks of poorly applied pieces of wood that acted as houses. That was only an hour outside of Maipu.

If you go north to San Pedro you'll see some major poverty. It's not like San Pedro is some unknown town either...it's a major hub for most major country's telescopes. (allegedly its the driest desert at the highest altitude in the world) I saw some little girls playing in a broken down chimney stoop playing with broken pieces of colored glass. Another little girls, a neighbor of the first two, came out carrying an infant with another little child right behind her.

Look at the stats all you like, and i'm sure you have been to Chile but it's hard for me to think of this country as 'well off'.

[Vicious89x]

Strange you guys both think that. Maybe if you look at the GDP or some other statistic but I think you need to travel to the outskirts of major cities. I saw a line of 'houses' that were merely shacks of poorly applied pieces of wood that acted as houses. That was only an hour outside of Maipu.

If you go north to San Pedro you'll see some major poverty. It's not like San Pedro is some unknown town either...it's a major hub for most major country's telescopes. (allegedly its the driest desert at the highest altitude in the world) I saw some little girls playing in a broken down chimney stoop playing with broken pieces of colored glass. Another little girls, a neighbor of the first two, came out carrying an infant with another little child right behind her.

Look at the stats all you like, and i'm sure you have been to Chile but it's hard for me to think of this country as 'well off'.

This is funny coming from someone living in a city in the top 10 of poverty rates in the country.

Yes, I've spent plenty of time there and yes there are "poorer" areas. That's everywhere. I find it ridiculously ignorant that because poverty exists that automatically it's a poor dumb Latin American nation. Oh, but I'm sure you don't think that of Argentina. That's a very wonderfully developed and intelligent nation.

[Vicious89x]

And this was supposed to mean....

[Klecko73isGod]

Huh? How you know th..nevermind. You go Kleck!!!

I know that because the material I sell is all commodities based. I have to pay attention to the prices of copper, nickel, bronze, etc. in order to do my job.

[drago]

This is funny coming from someone living in a city in the top 10 of poverty rates in the country.

Yes, I've spent plenty of time there and yes there are "poorer" areas. That's everywhere. I find it ridiculously ignorant that because poverty exists that automatically it's a poor dumb Latin American nation. Oh, but I'm sure you don't think that of Argentina. That's a very wonderfully developed and intelligent nation.

when did i say they were dumb? I have some great friends from chile, i just feel you are looking at numbers and not the nation. Going to downtown santiago is nothing like chicago or new york...its very run down, countless stray dogs roaming free. One of the dogs died at a bus stop with everyone watching.

I know milwaukee is poor but milwaukee is not the nation's capital as Santiago is Chile's. All i said was they have a huge disparity in income and that they have some major poverty.

I don't know about Argentina, I've only seen its mountain range first hand.

[faba]

Why are we fighting over whether a country is poor or not- the trajedy of an earthquake is what is the issue and the lives it destroys- now continue.

[neckdemon]

i was just reading that the earthquake actually shifted the earths axis slightly and shortened our days by a couple of milliseconds.

[Vicious89x]

when did i say they were dumb? I have some great friends from chile, i just feel you are looking at numbers and not the nation. Going to downtown santiago is nothing like chicago or new york...its very run down, countless stray dogs roaming free. One of the dogs died at a bus stop with everyone watching.

I know milwaukee is poor but milwaukee is not the nation's capital as Santiago is Chile's. All i said was they have a huge disparity in income and that they have some major poverty.

I don't know about Argentina, I've only seen its mountain range first hand.

I've spent plenty of time in Santiago. The stray dogs are a problem in Chile though. I'm not entirely sure why, but it's everywhere.

Santiago is probably one of the most important cities in South America but the truth is that it has built up from nothing. It's becoming more and more metropolitan and of course it's not NYC or Chicago. We are the richest and most powerful country in the world. I'd hope our biggest cities were better than a country who has come a long way since the 80's.

I just take issue to the fact that you might believe Chile is somehow comparable to it's poverty to Haiti. When it comes to Latin America, Santiago is one of the top 2 cities in the entire continent. And it's come to be that in a relatively short span. I was there in 1994 and then again in 2001, and the difference in those 7 years was astronomical.

Chile doesn't need help because it's poor. It needs help because it got hit with a friggin 8.8 earthquake, hundreds of time more powerful than what hit Haiti.

I live in Portland, Oregon. And this town is littered with bums, everywhere. Just because a place LOOKS poor doesn't mean it IS poor. The reason the sight is so drastic in Chile is because people have gotten richer, and the middle class has grown with the burgeoning economy. Meanwhile the people who were poor have remained as poor as they were which was REALLY poor for a long time due to the dictatorship of Pinochet.

And I'm sorry, where in Downtown Santiago where you? Cause out by La Moneda it's gorgeous, and clean. The Metro puts NYC's subways to shame.

I guess you want to perceive it as poor, but at least preface that it's your OPINION. Because what you're arguing is what you have seen with your eyes which causes you to have a perception of something. Economists and people who care about money and that kind of stuff pay attention to those numbers you're so easily discarding.

[drago]

Country 1975 1980 1985 1990 1998

Chile 1,842 2,425 2,345 2,987 4,784

USA 19,364 21,529 23,200 25,363 29,683

Chile Poverty and wealth, Information about Poverty and wealth in Chile http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/Americas/Chile-POVERTY-AND-WEALTH.html#ixzz0h2tPNNlF

Sure the country is on the rise but that is not to say it is not a poor country. Their per capita income is still under 5k US. Ever been in Santiago on the first of a month? Lines are down the street with people looking to cash their checks. That's not to say they are not improving but you are calling me out for using an adjective of "poor". What would you prefer me say? "Chile is a country of just below average income?"

I never called them out as being stupid, i never said they were as poor as Haiti, i merely mentioned that the quake did not hit as populated an area as Haiti and that this was a good thing.

I'm glad you are sticking up for South American countries but don't put words in my mouth. I loved every minute i was in chile, they have some of the nicest and most compationate people I have ever met...but i'm sure you'll want stats to back that up as well.

[Verde]

i was just reading that the earthquake actually shifted the earths axis slightly and shortened our days by a couple of milliseconds.

I read that too. Much more interesting than debating how poor/or not Chile is!

[SoFlaJets]

I just hope Pat Robertson can find who is responsible for this tragedy?

he already has; gay, pro-abortion Chileans of course

[faba]

I read that too. Much more interesting than debating how poor/or not Chile is!

Ditto.

[Vicious89x]

Country 1975 1980 1985 1990 1998

Chile 1,842 2,425 2,345 2,987 4,784

USA 19,364 21,529 23,200 25,363 29,683

Chile Poverty and wealth, Information about Poverty and wealth in Chile http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/Americas/Chile-POVERTY-AND-WEALTH.html#ixzz0h2tPNNlF

Sure the country is on the rise but that is not to say it is not a poor country. Their per capita income is still under 5k US. Ever been in Santiago on the first of a month? Lines are down the street with people looking to cash their checks. That's not to say they are not improving but you are calling me out for using an adjective of "poor". What would you prefer me say? "Chile is a country of just below average income?"

I never called them out as being stupid, i never said they were as poor as Haiti, i merely mentioned that the quake did not hit as populated an area as Haiti and that this was a good thing.

I'm glad you are sticking up for South American countries but don't put words in my mouth. I loved every minute i was in chile, they have some of the nicest and most compationate people I have ever met...but i'm sure you'll want stats to back that up as well.

I'm well aware of the good people of Chile considering, ya know, that I'm Chilean. It's just clear you have your very skewed perception of the world through American eyes. Wealth is relative. Comparing US wealth to South American countries is ridiculous

Here is a more RELATIVE perception as per the CIA Factbook:

Poverty Line for Chile (09)- 13.7% of the population

Poverty Line for Argentina(09)- 15.3% of the population

Those are the two most powerful economic countries in South America. The country in 3rd place of the poverty line is Uruguay. Their %? 27.4%. That's a large jump from the top 2 to the next country.

Oh and Haiti's percentage of their population in poverty is somewhere in the neighborhood of 80%. I think what you are referring to is income distribution which is an issue in many South American nations.

And I apologize if I reacted harshly. I find the view that Chile is this poor country as generally ill informed and that we're dumb and poor farmers.

[RutgersJetFan]

I live in Portland, Oregon. And this town is littered with bums, everywhere.

To be fair, at least half of them are hippie d-bags doing that sh-t by choice. And I have more pity for the Chilean dog dying on the corner rather than them.

[Vicious89x]

To be fair, at least half of them are hippie d-bags doing that sh-t by choice. And I have more pity for the Chilean dog dying on the corner rather than them.

It's funny, because it's true.

[drago]

I'm well aware of the good people of Chile considering, ya know, that I'm Chilean. It's just clear you have your very skewed perception of the world through American eyes. Wealth is relative. Comparing US wealth to South American countries is ridiculous

Here is a more RELATIVE perception as per the CIA Factbook:

Poverty Line for Chile (09)- 13.7% of the population

Poverty Line for Argentina(09)- 15.3% of the population

Those are the two most powerful economic countries in South America. The country in 3rd place of the poverty line is Uruguay. Their %? 27.4%. That's a large jump from the top 2 to the next country.

Oh and Haiti's percentage of their population in poverty is somewhere in the neighborhood of 80%. I think what you are referring to is income distribution which is an issue in many South American nations.

And I apologize if I reacted harshly. I find the view that Chile is this poor country as generally ill informed and that we're dumb and poor farmers.

now i see why you threw such a hissy fit. You are Chilean and thought I was bashing your country. Just come out and say that so i don't have to read your responses. All i said was chile was a poor country. It's a relative term; deal with it.