Emergency Response

March 1, 2010

The United Church of Canada, working through the ACT Alliance and regional partners, is responding to the earthquake that struck off the coast of the Maule region of Chile at 3:34 a.m. local time on Saturday, February 27, 2010.

At a magnitude of 8.8 on the Richter scale, the earthquake was nearly 500 times as powerful as the one that recently struck Haiti. Current reports estimate that over 700 people have died in the quake, though this figure is likely to rise. Over 350 people were swept out to sea in the fishing village of Constitución when a tsunami wave hit minutes after the quake.

The hardest hit major city is Concepción, about 115 km southeast of the quake's epicentre. Significant material damage was also experienced in Chile's capital, Santiago, nearly 325 km to the northeast of the epicentre. An initial estimate indicates that half a million homes have been destroyed or severely damaged and roughly two million people have been displaced. The country's transportation infrastructure has also been affected, making it difficult to provide assistance to many of the affected areas.

Despite this loss of life and damage to property, the effects of the earthquake could have been much worse. Stringent building codes in place since Chile experienced a massive earthquake in 1960 helped prevent catastrophic damage to most modern buildings. As well, the quake occurred in the middle of the night when few people were travelling on roads, many of which were damaged by collapsing bridges and overpasses.

The Chilean government is still assessing its needs for international assistance, but has now requested some medical, infrastructure, and reconstruction support. Many countries—including Canada—have offered humanitarian assistance.

United Church Response

The United Church of Canada will be working with other churches around the world through the ACT Alliance, the network of churches and Christian aid agencies that enables global responses to emergencies, as well as through regional partners working in Chile.

The United Church is allocating up to $100,000 from its Emergency Response Fund, $50,000 of which will go immediately to the ACT Alliance, and up to $50,000 of which will go to ACT or regional partners' work for relief and reconstruction.

While the United Church has decided that, at this point in time, it will not issue a formal appeal for assistance, the church will receive donations to its Emergency Response Fund and channel these through the ACT Alliance to provide a coordinated response.

Learn what United Church partner ACT Alliance is doing for Chilean relief

How United Church Members Can Help

• Pray: Hold the people of Chile in prayer.
• Donate: Designate a gift for "Chilean Earthquake Relief." As part of the United Church's Emergency Response Fund, 85 percent of your donation will go directly to emergency response in Chile. Fifteen percent will be used to support emergencies that do not receive intense media coverage and response. No administration fees will be deducted from your donation. Regular donations to the Mission and Service Fund enable the United Church to absorb staffing and administration costs of emergency response work.
  
  Cheques and online donations should be made payable to The United Church of Canada and marked "Chilean Earthquake Relief." Donations made by United Church members and congregations to Chilean earthquake relief are considered "over and above" gifts to the United Church's wider work, so they are not recorded as part of a congregation's Mission and Service Fund giving, but they are eligible for tax receipts. Congregational treasurers may receive individual's cheques and then forward those cheques directly to The United Church of Canada, Attention "Chilean Earthquake Relief." The United Church will receipt the individual for all such donations.

For more information, contact:

• Mark Hathaway
  Program Coordinator, South America
  The United Church of Canada
  Tel: 416-231-5931 ext. 4064
  Toll-free: 1-800-268-3781 ext. 4064
  E-mail: Mark Hathaway
• Gary Kenny
  Program Coordinator, Emergency Response
  The United Church of Canada
  Tel: 416-231-7680 ext. 4051
  Toll-free: 1-800-268-3781 ext. 4051
  E-mail: Gary Kenny