Shaken Santiago Counts Itself Lucky

Although the quake struck at 3.30 in the morning, I was still awake, enjoying a party with friends in a beach house some 200km (125 miles) north-west of the capital, Santiago.

What struck me was not so much the intensity of the quake but its duration.

It started as an almost indiscernible trembling of the glasses and the furniture in the room, and it grew and grew for what seemed like an eternity.

The lights went out and we realised this was no minor tremor.

We ran out of the house, heading for open space.