the 22nd of May in 1960, at 15:11 pm, the ground shook. for about 10 minutes. harder than it ever had before, at least in recorded history.
This event would go on to be know has as The Great Chilean Earthquake of 1960
It’s been 60 years. and the city, the country, the world, were changed by it.
the city lost almost all its industry and ended up reinventing itself ( for the better, in my opinion), the country’s geography was affected,and the goverment had to step up its response and preparedness to natural disasters, it was so big it didnt just affect Chile,but far away places like Hawaii and Japan.
Valdivia itself isn’t next to the sea, but 15km inland. there’s smaller towns next to the sea,like corral and niebla.
my dad lived in niebla. that day, he’d taken an early boat to the city. his family wouldn’t know what had happened to him for days. they had to leave their house on the shore and run up a hill with their neighbours, where they watched the sea come and take every single one of their houses.
many people died,many more lost their homes. lost their jobs .people are suddenly isolated. and nobody knew what was happening. communications were down. people here in the city didn’t know what had happened to the rest of the country. the rest of the country lost touch with most of the south, and some speculated the earth had swallowed the city.
everyone local has similar stories theyve heard from parents or grandparents. the access to the bridge to isla teja and the coast fell and had to be rebuild so people had to cross and travel by boat. those that lost their homes were housed in small wooden rucos.
I’m not really here to tell the story, I just wanted to compile a few links from the anniversary, there’s been a lot work done for remembrance as well as to prepare future generations.
people would face great challenges, not just the lack of food, potable water, housing. the many industries in town mostly shut down.
and nature wasn’t done. a lake had been blocked and grew, threatening to drown the city. it was an event know as the ‘riñihuazo’, averted only due to people with shovels.
the main one is https://1960lamemoriasalvavidas.cl/ a project working on educating people about natural disasters including testimonies on what happened and a section dedicated to how to avoid them and how to face them, plus a really great radioplay
one of the ways the city changed was that a lot of it sunk. some of it was developed,some wasnt. this created a large network of wetlands.
on the southern exit of the city there’s now a lonely road flanked on both sides by wetland. there’s great biodiversity to be found, and in the summer months you can take a tour by kayak or sup. nothing with a motor can go there, but it’s fantastic to row around.
There was a new sanctuary created, the nature sanctuary carlos anwandter, home to the iconic black-neck swans, amongst others
a photo exhibit of the aftermath
Austral University made a website which includes a virtual tour, a photo exhibit, games for children, and testimonies
a movie called “the answer” deals with the riñihuazo, showing the people who worked tirelessly to avoid a disaster
more testimonies from el riñihuazo
https://www.biobiochile.cl/noticias/nacional/region-de-los-rios/2020/05/22/rinihuazo-la-heroica-hazana-donde-personas-palas-impidieron-la-inundacion-valdivia.shtml
A short film about a survivor, a baker who makes the most wonderful cakes.
A twitter thread showing photos of the city and explaining the effects
a photo thread of puerto montt and nearby cities
https://twitter.com/jaopazowerner/status/1263869971530240001
The earthquake had a lot of side effects including activating or encouraging nearby and not-so-nearby volcanos https://youtu.be/W3a_tXKL9fU
a photo thread from chiloe
Valdivia y su evolución post-terremoto 1960
Eventually, the city would recover. though the industries didn’t, and Valdivia reinvented itself as a touristic destination, and a university town, earning the name of the prettiest city in the country.
I’ve plugged everyone else’s work so I’ll end with my own, this playlist has a lot of videos showing around town, how the city looks now.
