I had just gone to bed when the earthquake hit. It woke me up, and I could hear glass and other items crashing and people outside screaming and crying, but thanks to the fact that our houses are newer and earthquake repellent (they have anti-seismic walls or something like that), none of the buildings around me were damaged, and all of the neighbors were OK. It's been a huge blessing for me that the earthquake also tore down some of the invisible walls that keep people from interacting with each other here, and the neighbors have invited me over for meals, invited me to spend the night at their house, checked in with me to make sure I'm all right.
Chile - the church gathers to pray
Our church family got together this evening for a time of prayer. We all have water now and some of us have electricity, so things are settling down a bit. Ialoca is the town where the church had their summer camp/retreat a few weeks ago, and apparently it was hit by a tsunami. Since it's a fishing village, the fishermen recognized the tsunami coming and were able to warn the people there, and they were able to run to a mountain near the village. Apparently most people were able to escape, but their houses and belongings were destroyed.
I was blessed to see the love of the church family right after the earthquake hit.Titus, one of the church elders, got into his car as soon as the quake was over and started driving around to all the church family's houses to make sure that we were all fine. During the earthquake a TV fell on Titus' right leg, so it was swollen and he was limping, but he still went out check on the people and to see if there was anything he could do to help anyone.
I spent the few hours between the earthquake and dawn at the house of Mary & Mark, a couple from the church. The aftershocks have been unsettling, but nothing like the original earthquake (so far).
I've been told that most of the downtown area was destroyed because the buildings were old, but I haven't been down to see for myself yet.
I'll try to send more updates and pictures as the week progresses, as long as I still have electricity & my computer stops acting up. Thank you all so much for your prayers and concern!