World Vision on the differences between the last two earthquakes

Aid group World Vision has weighed in on the differences between the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile. A representative of World Vision's rapid response team says that while Haiti's quake was concentrated in one spot, Chile's was more widespread and reached remote areas.

From The Christian Post, reporter Ethan Cole asked World Vision's Steve Matthews about the differences.

“Haiti was concentrated and that led to the challenge of tons of aid and hundreds of aid workers being sent into a small zone,” he said. “This quake off the Chilean coast has potential to reach remote areas and thus it will be extremely difficult to assess the number of deaths and amount of damage, but we can expect that children and families will have taken the brunt of it.”

The Chile quake is responsible for at least 708 deaths. It has also triggered tsunamis but the Pacific-wide alert for a tsunami has been lifted.

World Vision staff in Chile said the disaster happened during the early morning when everyone was sleeping, so there was no time to escape.

It struck at 3:34 a.m. local time 200 miles southwest of the capital, Santiago.

“Many houses are destroyed; even large buildings have collapsed,” said Mariela Chavarriga, emergency advisor for World Vision in Chile. “Main roads have been destroyed and communication is very difficult. We are trying to connect with our regional offices but all the phone lines are down.”