We who live in earthquake country in the San Francisco Bay Area will be taking the news from Chile, following so soon that from Haiti, as a loud alarm for our own preparedness. Two things I can think of to do, other than full immersion training for ESP, is 1) to make sure everyone in our families and among friends, has their contact phone number in mind, and in their phones. Designate one friend or relative outside the Bay Area to whom everyone calls to report in, and who can relay messages back to others. 2) Make sure you have three days minimum of edible food and water in your house, garage, car…somewhere unlikely to be inaccessible after a major shake. Much of the panic we have seen in recent quakes is people simply trying to get food and water. Stay away from those mob scenes and have your own ready. We have a Coleman stove with fuel, bottled water and canned good. We also have a long pry-bar and a couple of saws for the wood-frame building we live in — oh, and cash on hand, assuming ATMs will be dead for a while.

[Are we ready?]

Using power saws and their bare hands, rescue workers atop the rubble of collapsed buildings tried to pull out those caught inside. Although there were successes — like Julio Beliz, who managed to free his neighbor from the rubble in Santiago after hearing him yell out, “Julio, help me!” — the search for survivors was frustratingly slow.

In remote coastal towns, waves had obliterated homes, and boats were found on land next to overturned cars. The authorities acknowledged that the damage was spread over such a vast area that they were just beginning to get a grasp on it.

NY Times: Chile

For coverage from Chile, in Spanish, try LaTercera.com reporting 711 fatalities

Lawrence Downes reminds us that the misery is likely only beginning for Haiti with seasonal, torrential rains due any day.

There were floods on Saturday in Les Cayes, in southwestern Haiti. It rained in Port-au-Prince on Thursday, and again on Saturday and Sunday night, long enough to slick the streets and make a slurry of the dirt and concrete dust. Long enough, too, to give a sense of what will happen across the country in a few weeks, when the real storms start.

Mud will wash down the mountains, and rain will overflow gutters choked with rubble and waste, turning streets into filthy rivers. Life will get even more difficult for more than a million people.