A huge earthquake has struck Chile last night, measuring 8.8 on the Richter scale. There is widespread massive damage throughout the country and hundreds of deaths so far have been reported.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/lt_chile_earthquake
A tsunami warning has been issued for areas that are next to the Pacific Ocean, with a tsunami expected to hit Hawaii in the next hour or so.
This begs the question, of course, will the TV coverage be the same as Haiti's earthquake? Will there be fundraisers and songs sung about Chile? Will the U.S. government send immediate help and offer to help rebuild Chile?
It would be nice, but I highly doubt it.
Update: The Las Vegas Sun, on their web site doesn't even mention the earthquake at 1:00 PM
The earthquake in Chile did not produce devastation anywhere near the scale of the Haiti quake. Since their major earthquake in 1960, Chile has built infrastructure with the possibility of more quakes in mind. The death toll in Chile will be counted in the hundreds rather than in the tens of thousands. The tsunami lost much of its strength as it traveled, fortunately, and it was not very destructive.
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