Stolen from CNN's home page:
Chile is a bit better prepared for this kind of thing, if there is such a thing.
(no, I doubt this was HAARP, no profit in it, really)
Trouble is, all this "earthquake-proof" engineering basically stops at 8.0. Anything after 8.0 isn't an earthquake, anymore, but a "Great Quake".
An 8.8 shaker is basically 8 times stronger than what modern buildings are designed to withstand.
Think of it this way. An animal's instinct during a quake, is to
run. And you have to do something very drastic to get an animal to over-ride their panic reflex in a life-threatening situation, right? Well...
During the 9.2 in May, 1960 farmers reported that at it's peak, their animals stopped trying to run away. They simply
laid down, and waited for it to end. It's that strong. Also, for anyone who has been in even a small one, you know that you also get a severe case of vertigo, as the one thing your body absolutely relies upon holding still, is tossing you about.
Ok, I just watche4d a bit on
UniVision, and so far, Concepcion has about 152 dead. but it's early. 2-3 foot cracks in the roads, bridges and buildings down, all over. So far 3 hospitals there have collapsed.
I only got a quick glance at it, but it looks like the old bridge across the Rio Bio is also down. s h i t.
More in a bit,
Fred