The Chilean Province of Curico has lifted the curfew which had been in effect since the devastating earthquake. The towns of Curico, Sagrada Familia and Molina are now curfew-free, although the rest of Maule Province still has the curfew for now. The local authorities did away with the curfew after the situation in those towns normalized enough that it was no longer needed.
Good news for everyone who has Machu Picchu on their “bucket list:” the ruins are going to reopen on March 29. The train will once again run between Aguas Calientes (the town at the bottom of the hill from the ruins) to Piscacucho. Buses will go from Cuzco and Ollantaytambo to Piscacucho. The train track between Piscacucho and Cuzco was apparently damaged by mudslides more than the last section which leads to the ruins. This section is expected to reopen sometime in June or July, restoring the famous train trip from Cuzco to the ruins. The section of the Inca Trail in the area – by far the most-traveled part of the famous Inca roadway – will reopen at about the same time.
By Crit Minster
How big was the Chilean earthquake? Big enough to rearrange geography, it turns out. The seismic shift that caused billions of dollars of damage, left hundreds dead and an even greater number homeless was strong enough to make measurable changes to the landscape as far away as northern Brazil and the Falkland Islands, off the southern coast of Argentina. The worst-hit was the city of Concepción, which geologists estimate may have moves three meters (about ten feet) to the west. Buenos Aires may have moved an inch or so, and other cities such as Mendoza also shifted measurably.
Meanwhile, new President of Chile Sebastian Pinera hit the ground running, promising to work tirelessly at the rebuilding effort and introducing new measures and proposals to the Chilean Congress within hours of his inauguration. A series of strong aftershocks – one was almost as strong as the quake that leveled Port-au-Prince last month – sent skittish Chileans back out of their homes. These aftershocks even were evident at the inauguration ceremony, threatening to drop a massive lighting fixture on the new president.
The earthquake’s official toll currently stands at 497 dead, thousands homeless, some 500,000 homes damaged and countless damages to roads, hospitals, schools and other important civic structures. The Chilean government estimates that reconstruction will take years and cost billions. Chile’s famous wine industry was hard hit as well: thousands of gallons of wine were lost when their tanks ruptured.
Stay tuned to Viva Travel Guides for the latest news and updates.
Aftershocks continue to shake parts of Chile, which are still reeling from the massive 8.8 earthquake that hit a week ago. Despite the damage, and the continued troubles associated with the aftershocks, Chile is working hard to put itself back together.
The relief and rebuilding is expected to cost some $30 billion dollars. But aid is being delivered to those who need it the most and ordinary Chileans are pitching in to help out as much as they can. A national telethon is expected to raise some $30 million for relief and rebuilding, with much of the contributions coming from areas in Chile that were unaffected.
Also in recent news, police in the hard-hit city of Concepcion are going after looters. Some 20 citizens have been arrested and charged with looting in the aftermath of the earthquake. Police were preparing to go house-to-house to look for stolen electronics and other high-end goods. Before the operation, they declared an amnesty and hundreds of looters dropped off stolen items at police checkpoints. By some estimates, the police have recovered more than $2 million worth of stolen goods.
Although there is still much suffering in the worst-hit areas, other parts of Chile, such as the Lakes district, Patagonia and northern Chile continue to be open for tourism.
The travel infrastructure in Chile continues to improve as the country finds it footing following Saturday’s massive earthquake.
While discouraging travel to the devastated regions of Biobío and Maule, tourism officials in Chile are keen to remind travelers that the rest of Chile, including the north, south and Santiago, is up and running with few disruptions. Despite the fact that the Lakes, Patagonia and the Atacama regions were essentially untouched by the quake, hotels and tour operators there are reporting a large number of cancellations.
Part of this may be the result of the difficulties travelers are having in reaching Chile. Every day, however, more domestic and international flights are added to the schedule at Santiago’s hobbled airport. For now those flights are mostly being used to clear the backlog of passengers who were stranded by the quake, but airlines should be taking new reservations over the weekend. In the meantime, passengers are asked to call their airlines to learn the status of their flights. Officials in Santiago expect to be using one terminal building by next week and to have the airport fully operational within a month.
Officials in Chile have lowered their estimate of the death toll, at least for now. The original figure, over 800, included the names of the missing, and not just the dead, in several cities. The new estimate stands at 279, but that number could rise significantly as the recovery effort gets underway in many hard-hit towns and cities. Meanwhile, aftershocks continue to rock the central region of the country, and a separate earthquake, measured at 6.4 on the Richter scale, shook the northern area around Calama. No major damage has been reported at this point.
Rescue operations continue in central Chile, five days after it was struck by a massive earthquake. The Santiago Airport is running a limited schedule, though it is hoped that one of the terminals can be reopened on Friday and 24-hour operation will be resumed. In the meantime, shared vans have started transporting passengers to and from the airport again.
The cellular and land-line phone networks are mostly up and running again, except in the hardest-hit parts of the Bío-Bío and Maupe regions. La Autopista Central, Route 5, continues to be repaired, and detours have been laid out where the road is impassable. Bus service is running again between Santiago and cities to the south, including Puerto Montt, Valdivia, Temuco and Osorno, but with a limited schedule (you can see TurBus’s schedule here).
While the situation in Concepción, Chillán and Talca has improved significantly in the past few days, travel to any of the affected regions is still strongly discouraged. Food, water and fuel are still scarce in the region, and the basic infrastructure to support visitors simply does not exist at this time. Volunteers should not travel to the quake-ravaged regions independently, so that they do not get in the way of the medical teams, firefighters and soldiers currently working in the area.
There are a number of ways for visitors to Chile to help, however. The Red Cross is in dire need of money and supplies, as well as donations of blood, for the quake victims. In Santiago, blood can be donated at the Centro de Sangre, located at Ex-Hospital Militar (Av. Vitacura). Material donations can be left at the Red Cross’s warehouse in Ñuñoa (Seminario 937). If you would like to donate your time, the student union FECh is looking for volunteers to collect and load supplies bound for the south. Stop by their office (Periodista José Carrasco Tapia). Similar efforts are underway in Iquique, Calama, Viña del Mar, Valaparaiso, Puerto Montt, Chiloé, Punta Arenas and elsewhere. For more details, check out the Chile Ayuda website (Spanish-only).
Keep checking back at www.vivatravelguides.com for more updates on the situation in Chile.
Santiago’s Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport has reopened for domestic and international flights— but there’s a catch. Because both the international and domestic terminals were heavily damaged in Saturday’s quake, passengers are being processed outside or in tents. All inbound international flights are stopping elsewhere in Chile first for immigration control and customs. Needless to say, this is causing some serious problems. Check with your airline if you have a flight into, or out of, Santiago. Additionally, there is no ground transportation from the airport, and arriving passengers are being bused to metro stations in the city.
The government has urged people to avoid unnecessary travel in affected regions. Route 5, the main highway between Santiago and the south, is mangled and impassable in several locations (as you can see on this Google map, showing road obstructions and damage throughout the country). Authorities are asking drivers not to use the highway. Gas is also hard to find south of Santiago.
In Santiago itself, however, both the Transantiago and the Metro are operating more-or-less normally. If you are planning on staying in areas near the quake zone, including Santiago, Valdivia, Temuco and Pucón, it’s worth calling ahead to your hotel; since people are leaving quake-ravaged cities for less-damaged ones, and visitors stuck in Chile are having to extend their stay, many hotels are crowded.
The worst-hit areas are still to be avoided. While rioting and looting have died down in Concepción, the situation there remains difficult. Search-and-rescue efforts are still underway in Chillán, the Maule Valley and coastal communities, such as Constitución, Talcahuano and Pelluhue. The Juan Fernández Islands were devastated by tsunami waves and remain inaccessible.
Check back here as VIVA continues to receive more information about the situation in Chile.
V!VA Travel Guides Chile Author Lorraine Caputo reporting from Argentina:
El Mercurio has a blog where people are posting damages — Electricity was knocked out for a while as far south as Pto Montt, & there’s a report of damage on Chiloé. Valdivia & nearby towns suffered damage. Some of the reports (like from Talca) are quite harrowing .
Besides infrastructure, roads & bridges being destroyed, another serious factor is gasoline and diesel. The country’s major refineries are in the hardest hit area. The government figures they have enough gasoline (bencina in Chileno) for 8 days & diesel for 6 days.
To find a missing person, or if you have information on the whereabouts of someone in Chile, go here:
http://chilepersonfinder.appspot.com/
The Santiago International Airport sustained significant damages.
As of 7pm Sunday Feb 28, it is reported by Santiago newspaper El Mercurio that all airports in Chile are open. Though, reportedly Santiago is not operating at full capacity.
Here’s a video showing the damage and the hours after the earthquake.
Here’s some critical information for fellow travelers and expats and their loved ones currently in Chile and dealing with the aftermath.
The epicenter is located near these population and travel destinations.
100 km (60 miles) NNW of Chillan, Chile
105 km (65 miles) WSW of Talca, Chile
115 km (70 miles) NNE of Concepcion, Chile
325 km (200 miles) SW of SANTIAGO, Chile, Valparaiso, Chile and Vina del Mar
The Lake District and wine valleys south of Santiago are also affected.
La Tercera, Santiago newspaper site has excellent updates. http://latercera.com/
EMERGENCY TELEPHONE NUMBERS
Ambulance 131 Police 133
Fire 132 Police Investigations 134
Medical info, Hospitals and Clinics by region:
Santiago:
Clínica Alemana
Av. Vitacura 5951, Vitacura
Tel: 56-2-2129700 / 2101111
Ambulance Tel: 56-2-2101010
English Speaking Doctors in Santiago
Dr. Philippa Moore
Apoquindo 3990, Offi ce 605, Las Condes
Tel: 56-2-2070747 / 6866735
Metro Station: Alcantara
E-mail: moore@med.puc.cl
In Vina del Mar and Valparaiso see here for emergency and medical info
Transportation
Transportation is direly affected due to fallen bridges. The Comodoro Arturo Merino Beniteza International Airport in Santiago will remain closed for at least 24 hours after the earthquake.
BUS TERMINALS
Santiago
• Terminal Santiago – Av. O’Higgins (Alameda) 385, Barrio Brazil. Tel: 56-2-3761755
• Terminal San Borja – San Borja 184, Barrio Brazil. Tel: 56-2-7760645
• Terminal Los Héroes – Ca. Tucapel Jiménez 21. Tel: 56-2-4200099
• Terminal Alameda – Av. O’Higgins 3750, Barrio Brazil. Tel: 56-2-2707500
• Estación Pajaritos – Ca. General Bonilla 5600, Barrio Brazil. Tel: 56-2-503468
More coming soon.
If you have other useful info please add it as comments.