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United Methodists respond to quake in Chile Linda Bloom, Mar 9, 2010
PHOTO BY JAN O. SPIXELES/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
A church in Santiago, Chile, was one of an estimated 500,000 buildings destroyed or damaged in the Feb. 27 earthquake.
By Linda Bloom United Methodist News Service
Methodists in Chile began to assess damage after a massive earthquake struck the region Feb. 27, killing more than 700 people.
The magnitude 8.8 earthquake hit about 60 miles northwest of the town of Chillán, some 200 miles southwest of the capital, Santiago. Many of the deaths occurred in the Maule region along the coast, where the town of Constitución was also hit by a tsunami.
President Michelle Bachelet declared a “state of catastrophe” in central Chile, and the quake was felt in neighboring countries as far away as Brazil, according to news reports.
Bishop Mario Martinez of the Methodist Church in Chile said Feb. 28 that church buildings in the districts of Chillán, Los Angeles, Segunda de Temuco and Primera y Segunda de Santiago suffered major damage from the earthquake. He had no news of injuries or deaths.
Because of communication problems, he had no information on the condition of churches and members in the Concepcion, William Taylor and Sur districts in central Chile, which were hit the hardest in the earthquake.
As hundreds of aftershocks continued to jolt the region, residents searched for food, water and other supplies. The New York Times reported March 1 that the United Nations received an emergency request from Chile for mobile bridges, generators and field hospitals.
The United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) and its relief agency, the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), communicated with the church in Chile soon after the earthquake. UMCOR is making an initial $10,000 emergency grant to Chilean Methodists.
Bishop Joel Martinez, the board’s interim top executive, pledged to the Chilean bishop “our prayers, our solidarity and our commitment to offer the resources and services of UMCOR to help the church respond.”
United Methodists have significant ties to the autonomous church in Chile. A Volunteers In Mission team from the denomination’s Wisconsin Conference was doing construction work in southern Chile when the earthquake occurred and was reported to be safe. The team had been in the country since Feb. 17, working at the Agricultural School of La Granja and the Mapuche Women’s Learning Center, both in Nueva Imperial.
The Rev. Shana Harrison, a GBGM missionary based in Santiago, rode out the jolts from the earthquake in her fifth-floor apartment. She is executive director of Foundation Crescendo, a workshop and group home for adults with intellectual disabilities.
Ms. Harrison reported the buildings at Foundation Crescendo did not appear to have any structural damage. “The residents at the group home are quite frightened, but I feel like they are handling it very well. . . . I do know that some of our staff have damage to their homes, but I have not heard of any physical injuries,” she said in a Feb. 27 e-mail.
Missionary John Elmore reported that the El Vergel School in Iquique had some structural damage, especially in buildings that are mostly made of adobe. “The church at the school had its roof slide off and a lot of cracks in the walls,” he added.
UMCOR has a working relationship with the Methodist Church in Chile, along with its social and humanitarian ministry groups. The Rev. Tom Hazelwood, an UMCOR emergency response executive, said the Methodist Church in Chile will be better able to respond to the earthquake because of disaster training that he and Melissa Crutchfield, an UMCOR colleague, conducted there in October.
About 20 church members, representing different districts, participated in the three-day disaster preparedness and emergency response training, which also allowed for networking with local authorities and emergency response partners. The plan is to create a humanitarian response system in Chile in collaboration with UMCOR and the Chilean Oficina Nacional de Emergencia del Ministerio del Interior.
UMCOR officials do not believe that relief supply kits are currently needed in Chile, but the agency has set up a special fund for financial support for relief work in Chile.
Amanda Bachus, editor of El Interpreté, contributed to this report. For more UMNS stories, visit http://umns.umc.org.
PHOTO BY JAN O. SPIXELES/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Bishop Mario Martinez of the Methodist Church in Chile said Feb. 28 that church buildings in the districts of Chillán, Los Angeles, Segunda de Temuco and Primera y Segunda de Santiago suffered major damage from the earthquake. He had no news of injuries or deaths. 
