LDS Church set to augment Chile quake relief

SALT LAKE CITY — While continuing its limited local relief efforts in quake-shaken Chile, LDS Church leaders there and in Utah are determining the extent of additional assistance in the aftermath of Saturday's magnitude-8.8 earthquake.

Early fatality reports indicate three members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints died in the wake of the quake and ensuing tsunami. More than a half-million LDS members reside in Chile.

Much of the damage from the earthquake — with its epicenter off the central coast of Chile — and the tsunami centered the cities of Concepcion and Santiago and surrounding regions. Shortly after the quake, local LDS leaders and members began relief efforts by distributing food and water already located in Concepcion.

Food, water, tents, blankets, hygiene kits and sleeping mats have been identified by church leaders as the most critical commodities needed to assist those in the affected region.

Also, LDS representatives have contacted Chile's Interior Ministry to determine the church's assistance in relief efforts. Emergency-response personnel at LDS headquarters in Salt Lake City are ready to provide appropriate aid.

"While any loss of life and destruction of great magnitude is a tragedy, we don't anticipate that the situation in Chile will be nearly as devastating as what we've seen in Haiti," said Lynn Samsel, the church's director of humanitarian emergency response and community services.

That 7.0-magnitutde earthquake Jan. 12 in Port-au-Prince resulted in an estimated 212,000 deaths, while Chilean officials have confirmed more than 720 deaths in that country, with more confirmed casualties expected in coming days.

An estimated 2 million people reportedly have been affected by the quake, with some 500,000 homes suffering considerable damage. Dozens of aftershocks — some registering as high as 6.9 on the Richter scale — have continued to rumble through the country and rattle already-panicked Chileans.

While most Mormon meetinghouses in Chile escaped with little or no damage, many are filled with dust.

Three meetinghouses sustained extensive structural damage. Another was severely flooded from the quake-triggered tsunami. Tsunami waves also swept away a house that served as an LDS meetinghouse.

Contact has been made with all the missionaries serving in the nine LDS missions based in Chile. All are reported safe, with many having assisted in relief efforts since Saturday.

The missionaries who are unable to return to damaged, uninhabitable apartments are staying either with local members or in LDS meetinghouses.

Communications with and among local LDS leaders in the most affected areas of Chile have been limited and unreliable, with the best success being through text messages.

e-mail: taylor@desnews.com