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7.2 Quake Shakes Chile Inauguration

Largest aftershock of Chile quake rattled buildings, dignitaries

By the Associated Press

Posted Mar 11, 2010 9:39 AM CST
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(AP) – The largest aftershock since Chile's massive earthquake rocked the country today minutes before the inauguration of President Sebastian Pinera. The 7.2-magnitude aftershock was stronger than the Jan. 12 quake that devastated the Haitian capital. It happened along the same fault zone as Chile's magnitude-8.8 quake on Feb. 27, says a geophysicist for the US Geological Survey, adding that Chile now can expect to feel "aftershocks of the aftershock."

The tremblor shook buildings in the capital, rattled windows and provoked nervous smiles among dignitaries arriving for today's ceremony in coastal Valparaiso. Bolivian President Evo Morales seemed briefly disoriented. Peru's Alan Garcia joked that it gave them "a moment to dance." Pinera, a Harvard-trained economist and airline executive with little patience for bureaucracy, had been planning a stripped-down ceremony consisting mostly of a brief lunch with the foreign dignitaries. Then he had been planning to visit tsunami survivors in the coastal town of Constitution.

Chile's President-elect Sebastian Pinera, right, accompanied by his wife Cecilia Morel, waves to the media prior to his inauguration in Vina del Mar, Thursday, March 11, 2010.
Chile's President-elect Sebastian Pinera, right, accompanied by his wife Cecilia Morel, waves to the media prior to his inauguration in Vina del Mar, Thursday, March 11, 2010.   (AP Photo/ Max Montecinos)
Workers try to recover a destroyed coffin in a cemetery in Penco, Chile, Wednesday, March 10, 2010.
Workers try to recover a destroyed coffin in a cemetery in Penco, Chile, Wednesday, March 10, 2010.   (AP Photo/Ignacio Vasquez)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 5 comments
inky
Mar 11, 2010 5:56 PM CST
And we thought Obama was stepping into a mess...
QueenMamatheFirst
Mar 11, 2010 5:02 PM CST
Please inform your copyeditor that the word is temblor, not tRemblor.
JGirl
Mar 11, 2010 3:46 PM CST
geez haven't these people had enough?

Copyright 2012 Newser, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. AP contributed to this report.

 
Chile • inauguration • aftershock • Chile earthquake • Sebastian Pinera

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