Greetings from Santiago, Chile. As you all know by now, Chile experienced an 8.8 magnitude earthquake on Saturday morning at 3:34 a.m. (1:34 a.m. ET). The epicenter of the earthquake was located near the city of Concepcion, 509km south of Santiago. There were several serious aftershocks throughout Saturday and Sunday.
I am very relieved to inform you that all 185 staff members at BNamericas, and their families, are safe. The hundreds of supportive emails and offers for assistance that we have received during the past few days are very much appreciated. We are grateful that we, along with affected Chileans in the south and central parts of the country, have been in your thoughts and prayers. Experiencing such a powerful natural event firsthand is humbling and we appreciate the support that many of you have offered.
It has been a terrifying time for all, but mostly for those worst affected living in or near the regions where the epicenter struck. Journalists have reported that tens of thousands of Chileans built bonfires outside their homes and camped in the streets over the weekend, too afraid to live under cracked roofs and wary of bands of looters. Signs of solidarity were also abundant as neighbors housed neighbors, volunteers brought tents and fresh water to families on the street who had entered their third day with no electricity, communications or fresh water. With autumn rains just weeks away, Chilean officials are scrambling to organize housing for the estimated 1 to 2 million people who are affected. After first declaring that international help was not needed, President Michelle Bachelet reversed her position and began to accept disaster aid. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will arrive today in Santiago to meet with President Bachelet and discuss joint aid efforts. For all donations, please go to the Red Cross website: http://donate.ifrc.org/
At BNamericas, in addition to our daily objective of keeping you informed of regional events and important news, we have set up a real time earthquake information blog. Access to it is via our website www.BNamericas.com or at http://web1.bnamericas.com/. Here you can read updated stories throughout the next few days on what's happening and what's being reported in the local press and TV, in English. Our content team is working overtime to bring you reliable coverage of the realities here in Chile and potential effects they are having and will have on business within the industry sectors we cover for you.
Thankfully our office infrastructure, telephone system and servers are up and running. If you need to contact our journalists call us on (56-2) 941 0300 or email them, or myself, directly.
Thank you again for your support.
Warmest regards,
Greg Barton
CEO
Business News Americas