Chile mourns dead in quake, relief effors rolled out
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Chile on Sunday began three days of mourning for those who died in the Feb. 27 devastating earthquake, as disaster relief and aid efforts have been rolled out.
Eight days after the 8.8-magnitude earthquake, normalcy is returning, thanks to domestic relief efforts and international help.
A charity fund-raising party, which drew celebrities from Chile and abroad, raised 30.2 billion pesos (about 60 million U.S. dollars), which would be used to provide shelter for 20,000 families, local media reported on Sunday.
The funds will be injected into a charity project headed by President-elect Sebastian Pinera.
On Saturday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon visited Chile, vowing to help Chilean people with their relief efforts and offering 10 million U.S. dollars in aid to the quake-hit country.
"I am very moved by such strong determination by the people on the ground," said Ban, who had promised to deliver a report on the quake to the United Nations next week.
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said Friday that 35 nations had responded to specific aid requests, including tents from China, bottled water from Bolivia, seismic equipment from France, water purifiers from Russia, satellite phones from the United States, and pontoons from Sweden.
She welcomed the emergency aid worth 2 million U.S. dollars from China that arrived early Friday.
On Saturday, Japan delivered a batch of relief supplies worth around 30 million yen (332,000 U.S. dollars) to Chile as part of its promised 3 million-dollar aid.
Recovery efforts are being made in the quake-affected areas.
The authorities shortened a curfew from 18 to 13 hours in Concepcion on Saturday, and reduced curfews in Arauca, Nuble and Biobio provinces.
The military chief of the region, General Guillermo Ramirez, said: "We think it is right to reduce the time of the curfew because it is producing traffic jams and because the normality state in Concepcion proves that people can have more free time during the day to do their daily activities."
In Concepcion, life is slowly returning to normal. People were queuing patiently for water and food. Troops were patrolling the streets. Electricity and water have been restored in most parts of the city.
An 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck near Chile's second-largest city Concepcion on Feb. 27, in which 452 had been confirmed dead all across the country and about 2 million people left homeless.
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