- SITUATION in CHILE
On 27 February a powerful 8.8 magnitude earthquake hit central Chile. Since the initial quake, the U.S. Geological Survey reports 229 aftershocks. On 11 March several aftershocks were registered, of which two measured 7.2 and 6.9 (with 35 km and 44 km depth respectively). The epicentre was registered in O'Higgins region, 150 km from Santiago, and 140 km from Valparaiso, where the Presidential handover of power was ongoing. The Government has been correcting downward the number of deaths because of initial confusion over the number of people who had disappeared. On 11 March the official death toll was reported to be 421 persons. A 30-day curfew has been imposed in the most affected regions of Maule and Bío-Bío. On 11 March, due to the strong aftershocks, this measure was also imposed in O'Higgins region. Chile's Interior Minister Rodrigo Hinzpeter told that the 200 missing people should be added to the death toll.
Two EU Member State citizens are confirmed dead (one Swedish and one Spanish), one Belgian citizen is injured. Those Member States that have Consulates in Chile confirmed that they would seek to provide assistance to any MS citizen that requests it. Some EU Member States have substantial numbers of nationals in Chile (Italy 50,000, Spain about 31,000, Germany about 30,000 and the UK about 5,000). However, these figures mostly refer to people with dual nationality, which are long-term residents in the country and are certainly not in need of evacuation.
The regions most affected are Maule and Bío-Bío. Other affected regions are Araucania, Santiago, Valparaíso and O'Higgins. In general terms, over two weeks after the earthquake, the affected areas are returning to normalcy in relation to public services. Water and electricity have been almost fully restored in affected areas except in some rural areas, where at least 30% of the population is lacking safe water and sanitation. Roads are open, and there is access to almost all the affected populations. Mobile telephone communications have been restored in most areas.
Chilean government estimated that the earthquake could cost USD 30 billion (the equivalent of 15% of Chile's GDP), insurance covering only USD 5-8 billion. According to Public Works Minister, Helnan de Sominihac it would cost USD 1.46 billion to reconstruct public infrastructure. The World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) have opened credit lines for Chile. Chile's new government took office on 11 March.
Since new President Sebastian Piñera took office on 11 March he has visited affected areas: Concepción, Talcahuano, Dichato, Pelluhue, Cauquenes, Talca, Iloca, and Curicó. On 10 March, Carmen Fernandez resigned from her post as ONEMI director. Vicente Muñoz was appointed as the new head of ONEMI.
On 10 and 11 March, the EU Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, Kristalina Georgieva, visited Chile to evaluate the impact of European humanitarian aid on the ground with the ECHO team and the EUCP team, assess needs to be addressed in the future, and to attend the Presidential handover of power.