Chile earthquake, aftershocks prompt residents to flee

IQUIQUE, Chile -- As the aftershocks from a massive 8.2 magnitude quake that rattled northern Chile entered a third day yesterday, basic services were still out in the port city nearest the epicenter and residents fearful of tsunamis were fleeing into the hills.

The quake on Tuesday was blamed for six deaths and residents have been hit by dozens of aftershocks, including a powerful 7.6 magnitude quake on Wednesday night. Both quakes triggered tsunami warnings and evacuations.

More than 2,600 homes have been damaged and fishing boats were smashed up along the coast.

Iquique is a major copper exporting port and usually bustling commercial town. The city was almost completely paralyzed Thursday, its stores shuttered except for a few kiosks and supermarkets selling basic provisions.

Many residents are abandoning Iquique entirely for the time being, heading to other homes or friends and relatives in the nearby town of Alto Hospicio, a tsunami-proof 2,000 feet above sea level.

But the steep road to get there is closed to transport, its surface cracked apart by Tuesday's quake. So people are walking up; clothing, televisions, strollers and all.

"We're all walking up without water. I'm not afraid for me, but for my family, my son," said Camilo Fuenzalida, 26, carrying suitcases.

"Where I work we had to rescue someone from under the rubble, we tried to revive him, but he died anyway. It's on my mind . . . We don't even know what his name was."

Those who have stayed in Iquique are trying to get their lives back together. Electricity and water remain cut off to many places, reconnection complicated by the constant aftershocks.

"We're living in a very abnormal situation," said Freddy Hurtado, 63. "There are problems of supply in basic services such as electricity and drinking water does not exist."

Some people lined up in the warm autumn sunshine to buy food, petrol, water and other provisions from the few places open, and fishermen dragged boats back to harbor. Soldiers guarded gas stations and supermarkets to prevent looting. Nearly 300 prisoners took advantage of Tuesday's quake and evacuation to escape, although many later handed themselves in again and the streets have been largely peaceful.