Affirmation: Gay & Lesbian Mormons

Brus Leguás Contreras

Chile’s Earthquake: A Report

March 2010

What follows is a summary of a report that Brus Leguás Contreras, president of Afirmación Chile, sent me by email. With electric power down, he wrote it on his battery-operated laptop. I told Brus that our thoughts and prayers are with our sisters and brothers in Chile. –Hugo Salinas

Chile is an earthquake-prone country. At 3:34 am on February 27, we felt a loud noise caused by a violent quake. I woke up my partner Daniel, we jumped out of bed and stood under two doorways. Electric power began to fail; sparks began to fly out from the neighborhood transformers. Our home began to shake violently, and we could hear the windows rock and objects falling from the second floor. It was hard to keep our balance. People were screaming in the neighborhood. This lasted for over 3 terrifying minutes. I thought the second floor was collapsing.

The power went off, and the only light was the full moon. We grabbed flashlights and checked out the second floor. Books had flown off the shelves, but the house had withstood the quake. The faucets were still working, so we began to store water. We went outside and checked on some of our neighbors. When we returned we realized we had lost the phone—both phone lines and cell towers had collapsed.

I used my cell phone radio to tune in to some news. Little by little we began to grasp the scope of the quake, which had affected not just Valparaíso and Santiago, as we first thought, but also the south of the country—especially the Concepción/Talcahuano area. To make things worse, a tsunami (which the government claimed would not occur) caused death and destruction along the Chilean coast. This weekend was, in Chile, the last weekend of summer, and beach towns were crowded--which made the tsunami particularly destructive.

We have been without power and water for two days. In my town of Quilpué, in some houses the damage is visible from outside; but many more houses have damage inside, with fallen walls and destroyed furniture. Many are now living on the streets or in parks, in tents, or in improvised shelters. In some parts of the country there has been looting.

While my cell phone worked, I was able to contact Leandro, Cristian, and Mauricio. Leandro’s home was damaged by some falling bricks. Cristian, Mauricio, Marco Antonio, Alejandro, María Teresa, and Cecilia, all from Afirmación Gran Valparaíso, are OK. We haven’t yet heard from some 30 other gay Mormons in our region, nor have we yet been able to contact the Santiago group, but I’m confident they will be fine. We have heard from Raúl and Julio, who live in Rancagua, closer to the epicenter, but since all phone lines south of Rancagua are down, we have not yet heard from those living in Concepción, and we are worried about them. When the power returns, I hope I will be able to contact them.