Letter from Rosario Castillo, Executive Director of Global Ministries partner EPES

Thank you very much for your greetings and prayers; again today the ground has trembled rather violently, felt in Santiago. It began with a 7.2 earthquake at 11:53 a.m. with the epicenter at 43 ½ miles from the city of Rancagua – that is very near Curicó, and we are thinking a lot about the sisters and brothers in that area. Then at 11:55 a.m. there was another 6.9 earthquake, at 12:45 pm a 6.0, and at 1:09 p.m. a 4.9 magnitude quake.

Received from Rosario Castillo, Executive Director of Global Ministries partner EPES March 11, 2010:

Dear Global Ministries:

Thank you very much for your greetings and prayers; again today the ground has trembled rather violently, felt in Santiago.  It began with a 7.2 earthquake at 11:53 a.m. with the epicenter at 43 ½ miles from the city of Rancagua – that is very near Curicó, and we are thinking a lot about the sisters and brothers in that area. Then at 11:55 a.m. there was another 6.9 earthquake, at 12:45pm a 6.0, and at 1:09 p.m. a 4.9 magnitude quake.

At the time of the first earthquake this morning, we were in the EPES office in a meeting with grassroots health group representatives.  We were reading the letter of Pastor Gloria Rojas, President of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Chile (IELCH), who was giving an account of the visit that took place in the past few days to the entire area affected by the (February 27) earthquake – she traveled all the way to the city of Concepción with a group from the Inter-Ecclesiastical Emergency Committee. The first shaking this morning was a moment of great fear – one of the health monitors was quite panic-stricken.  We immediately suspended the meeting, but we kept talking until we regained a bit of calm, and the health monitors went home.  At EPES we are without electricity, (Santiago) so we went home or to the home of family members where we could be more connected with radio, telephone, and internet.

At the very moment that they were carrying out the presidential inauguration today of a new government, the earth moved without ceasing throughout the entire process, comments was heard including “No one wants President Bachelet to leave”.

I talked briefly with co-workers from EPES in Concepción, and they are very afraid.  Cell phone communication is very difficult to achieve.

A loving greeting to all of you; May the Lord of Life accompany you and give strength to all those who inhabit this earth.

Rosario