Feroze Vazifdar’s Firsthand Account of the Earthquake in Chile

The drive into San Antonio took almost two hours, with stop and go traffic over several damaged bridges.  Along the way we noticed a few damaged canopies, one major landslide, and damage to a newly built casino.

San Antonio is a very quaint town with only a few high-rise structures.  A five-story building with a lower soft story suffered significant damage, with spalled concrete columns and severe damage to infill panels.  Other than this, damage appeared light.  The only Chinese restaurant in town suffered major damage, but luckily the owner had started building a newer more modern restaurant next to it, which survived.  Loss of life in San Antonio was less than 50 people, most dying from the Tsunami that followed the earthquake.

I was in San Antonio for five days.  During that time, the city was subjected to at least six or seven earthquakes with a shaking intensity either equal to or greater than the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.  Having been through the Loma Prieta earthquake, I thought I was battle hardened.  Little did I know how wrong I was.

I am glad to be home, but there is much more work to be done.

Airport Chaos

Airport Chaos

High-Rise Damage

High-Rise Damage

Damaged Chinese Restaurant

Damaged Chinese Restaurant