Nichol here, Matt is slaving away on his seminar talk that he’ll present this afternoon (something about Universal Stellar IMFs…).

As you have probably heard, Santiago was struck by a 6.7 magnitude earthquake a little after midnight this morning. We were awake and watching TV in bed when the rumbling started. We immediately clued in that it was an earthquake this time (no debates regarding large trucks or how we don’t live next to train tracks) and we quickly made our way under the table next to our earthquake pack. The quake felt more intense than the last, likely due to its proximity to Santiago (115 km NW). You could actually feel the different seismic waves as they hit, which Matt was pretty excited about… I was a little more concerned with the wave of adrenaline that hit me as I watched our patio railing twist and buildings sway. Luckily for us, the quake was over in about 40 seconds and we could get back to watching Game of Thrones.

Since the Great Leader, Stevo-Gordito, is in the city, many Canadian news sources have reported on the hyperbolized “violent earthquake”. Don’t worry, he’s safe… Since I want to be let back in to Canada at some point, we’ll leave it at that. Thankfully, it sounds like everyone else is okay too with no reports of serious damage or injuries. We find it funny how the Chileans take seismic activity in stride. I guess when earthquakes happen so regularly there’s no reason to get all worked up about it. Even though the quake was sizable, it is being referred to as a “temblor” (tremor) and not a “terremoto” (earthquake) due to the lack of damage. No harm, no foul I guess.

Chau chau from Chile,

Nichol (&M)