Home > Austin Music Source > Archives > 2010 > March > 03 > Entry
First person account of Chile earthquake by SXSW-bound musician
Tessie Spoljaric-Woodgate of the Austin-managed Chilean band Intimate Stranger tells us about surviving the 8.8 earthquake that ravaged her adoptive home country Saturday. The first-ever showcase of Chilean bands takes place at Maggie Mae’s on Saturday March 20. Three of the bands will also play a benefit for earthquake relief efforts March 23 at the Parish.
“Every once in a while you get tremors in Chile, where the floor just shakes a little bit. And every ten years or so you get an earthquake.
So on Saturday morning at 3am when we were in bed and I felt the bed move I just nudged Lautaro (my husband/Intimate Stranger’s guitarist). Then I realised it was completely dark (we usually keep on a small light for Leonor - our daughter) and that the house was shaking hard. We both got out of bed, Lautaro took Leonor out of her cot and went towards the bathroom - the strongest part of our house.
I remember I got sort of stuck in the bedroom walking around in circles because I was completely shocked at how the floor was moving up and down, side to side. How I later imagined being in a tempest on a ship would be like. I had been in a deep sleep, I didn’t react logically, it was surreal. It seems people respond differently to
earthquakes, some people loose control and totally panic, I just remember feeling confused. I got to the bathroom door and the three of us stood under the door frame and held on to each other tight and waited for it to stop. There was so much noise - glasses smashing, the foundations of the house creaking so loud and a deep sound - I kept thinking the roof was going to fall down or that giant rocks were going to come tumbling down from the mountains. I felt so small. I was surprised Leonor wasn’t crying - she has good hearing but loud sounds don’t seem to bother her. It lasted a long time - 3 minutes thinking it was going on too long.
When it finally stopped we stood there for quite a while taking in what had happened and then we went back in the room and I went to find some candles. I could only find birthday cake candles. While I was in the kitchen I noticed the sky was misty - smoky and bright from the full moon. We found out later that a chemical factory exploded and the fumes had covered the city. We live on the outskirts of town, just
under the Andes, so it felt suddenly quiet around the house, but I could hear down below was full of sound - cars and sirens - people leaving their houses, bars and night clubs. We found out later that Mogles (our drummer) had been in Loreto (a club we often play in) at the time and afterwards the club goers poured in to the streets of
Bellavista - walking around rubble enmasse to their homes.
We stayed in bed, didn’t sleep much as there were a lot of aftershocks. I even felt one earlier this afternoon, 3 days later. A few hours after the earthquake we were dozing when I heard someone banging at the door in a frenzy - it was Lautaro’s brother. He had been an hour away at the beach with his grandmother in her 11th floor seaside apartment, which had completely split in half. She told me that she could see all the way down through the middle of her apartment to the bottom of the building. She didn’t seem fazed. She told me how they had escaped and that she had lived 2 earthquakes here before. We sat in the kitchen listening to the radio.
I didn’t realise how badly effected other areas were until we got our electricity and phone lines back on Saturday night. It’s different when you see it all live on the news. And everyday there are new places, new missing persons.
I was so glad when I finally got to speak to my parents. I was worried because Ihadn’t been able to contact my family and let them know that we were OK.
We are fortunate nothing happened to our family. Ok we still don’t have water and bathing by the swimming pool makes this place feel like a campsite, but a lot has happened to a lot of other people. After hours of watching images of devastation on the south coast, hearing survival stories of friends, empathising with those who have lost their homes and those who still haven’t heard from their families - the after feeling of the last few days is sad and tired. One of the worst cases closest to us is Pape - singer and bassist for The Ganjas who lost his home, his family home and his business. Here’s hoping his time at SXSW will give him new energy.
There are stories everywhere. Mogles told me today about his friend that just managed to escape the tsunami by zooming up a hill on a bike, and another guy who got swept by the tsunami nearly a mile from his home and survived! Not to mention the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami in Conception (the eye of the earthquake) where the army is now the authority and the media constantly talks of “collective psychosis”. How people react after catastrophe - with their homes destroyed, no food, no communications, nowhere to buy essentials… Chaos. Taking over the supermarkets, fires, organising themselves in to groups in fear that the little they have left will be taken away, arming themselves against “bad” people who are taking advantage of the situation…
The new government has a lot of work ahead of them and those who have lost everything will need the help they deserve.
Despite everything and the general mood here - we (Intimate Stranger) and the other bands are really eager to play at SXSW and go on tour. We are looking forward to some exciting gigs - including the show at the Parish in Austin, where all three bands will play as a benefit for the people of Chile in conjunction with Caritas.”
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: SXSW 2010
Comments
Austinites love to be heard, and we're giving you a bullhorn. We just ask that you keep things civil. Leave out the personal attacks. Do not use profanity, ethnic or racial slurs, or take shots at anyone's sexual orientation or religion. If you can't be nice, we reserve the right to remove your material and ban users who violate our Visitor's agreement. Click here to report comment abuse.