Chile earthquake has a local 'shake'
by Blake Wolfe/The Scugog Standard

Two Scugog residents who were in Santiago, Chile, during Saturday’s 8.8 magnitude earthquake are safe and sound, according to family.

Elaine and Charles Rivett were wakened by the early morning quake on Feb. 27, while staying in the Chilean capital as part of a South American agricultural tour by Canadian farmers. According to Elaine’s mother Joyce Kelly, the couple are continuing the tour and are currently en route to Argentina via bus, after flights out of Chile were grounded following the quake.

“They happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time,” said Ms. Kelly, Scugog’s Durham District School Board trustee and The Standard’s Shorelines Blackstock correspondent. “They woke up with the bed shaking, but they’re fine. It was terribly scary for them, but the bottom line is they’re okay and we’re thankful for that.”

Ms. Kelly said that although contact through e-mail with the couple has been sporadic, she received word from them shortly after the disaster and was also contacted by the tour coordinator who confirmed that none of the Canadians on the trip were injured in the quake.

On a lighter note, Ms. Kelly added that the couple were able to take in Canada’s gold medal win over the U.S. in men’s hockey, closing out the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver on Sunday afternoon (Feb. 28).

The local couple are expected to return home soon.

As of this week, the death toll in the Chile quake - which was comparatively stronger than the 7.0 magnitude quake which devastated Haiti earlier this year - is estimated at more than 700.

Two other Scugog residents, the Brewers, were also in Santiago at the time and are reported in good health.