Reuters/Coquimbo, Chile


Residents started rebuilding their homes and businesses in Coquimbo yesterday, two days after a powerful earthquake and tsunami waves battered the port city.
Soldiers patrolled the streets to prevent looting after President Michelle Bachelet’s government declared an emergency in Coquimbo following the 8.3 magnitude quake that killed 12 people.
At least one strong aftershock shook Chile’s Pacific seaboard yesterday as residents trying to salvage what they could from their properties urged the government to speed up the relief effort.
“We’re just getting started with removing the mud and the rubble,” said Maria Gonzalez, whose fish and seafood restaurant in Coquimbo’s port was badly damaged. “They have to help us fix our businesses and get back to the life we had.”
Waves of up to 4.5 metres slammed into Coquimbo’s shoreline, flinging large fishing boats and shipping containers onto the streets and sending floodwaters pouring into downtown.
The quake was the strongest recorded anywhere in the world this year but the swift evacuation of coastal zones and strict building regulations appeared to help keep the death toll low.
The economic cost of the earthquake, which followed floods in the north and volcanic eruptions in the south earlier this year, could be anywhere between $100mn and $1bn, Fitch rating agency said, citing US Geological Survey data.
Bachelet, who was widely criticised for her slow response to a monster quake in 2010 that killed more than 500 people, hugged victims as she toured the disaster zone on Thursday.
Those hit by the tsunami lost practically everything, said Askaan Wohlt of the Desafio Levantemos Chile charity, which was established after the 2010 earthquake.