Chile, Georgia have strong ties

By Craig Schneider, Mary Lou Pickel and Kristi E. Swartz

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Metro Atlanta's Chilean community was desperately reaching out to relatives in that earthquake-stricken country on Saturday, as several major local companies also worried about their employees and facilities there.

Communication was spotty due to power outages and problems with land lines and cellphone coverage, said local relatives who had been trying again and again to speak to their loved ones. Some said they were happy to get through for just a quick talk.

Those conversations reflected a great jolt to that country but, according to early reports,  not great numbers of human casualties from the magnitude-8.8 quake. People spoke of their homes being shaken so hard that refrigerators tumbled over.

About 800 people in metro Atlanta were born in Chile, according to the U.S. Census of 2000.

Angelica Ariztia, 40, of Marietta called her mother and sister in Chile after the earthquake and was relieved to learn that everyone was OK.

"They said it was very, very strong," Ariztia said. Her sister told her "the entire floor of the house was jumping up and down."

Ariztia's mother's house in Santiago appeared to be sound, but the contents were a jumbled mess.

"Everything in the house is on the floor -- the pictures, the plates -- everything that can fall, is on the ground," Ariztia said.

After a brief talk early Saturday morning, Ariztia could not get through to her mother again.

Meanwhile, Delta had shut down its call center in Santiago, which is its primary call center for Latin America, and canceled travel on  Saturday to Chile.

Georgia Pacific, which has a wood adhesive facility near Concepcion, Chile, had reached only two of its 60 employees, a spokesman said.

"We just want to make sure that our people and their families are safe," said Georgia Pacific spokesman James Malone.

Georgia has numerous close business relationships with Chile, and several major local companies, including Coca Cola and UPS,  have offices there.

The Georgia Department of Economic Development has one of its international trade offices in Chile, which has built strong relationships between the state and that country. Chile serves as a hub to South America for Georgia products, said state spokesman Bert Brantley.

"Our economy lines up with their economy," he said, pointing to the state's large agricultural industry. "It's a huge market for Georgia."

The two-person state trade office also helps draw Chilean businesses to Georgia. Brantley did not know the fate of the two trade office employees.

Georgia is about the only U.S. state that has established its own state trade office in Chile, said Erika Monckeberg, the honorary consul of Chile for the state of Georgia.

“We have free trade with the U.S., and there is a close relationship with Georgia,” she said.

Monckeberg said Chilean buildings are strong because of the history of earthquakes. But one of her friends said the shaking inside the home was so bad that the refrigerator fell over.

Local companies were reaching out to employees in Chile with spotty results.

Delta had reached several of its 150 employees at its call center and they were OK, said spokesman Trebor Banstetter.

CNN Chile's offices did not suffer structural damage, a spokesman said, but it was knocked off the air for a time due to power outages and problems with fiber optic lines. The news organization's 135 employees were all accounted for and collecting information for CNN after the quake struck at 3:34 a.m.

UPS told the AJC that no serious damage was known to have occurred at its facilities in Chile.

Patricia Monahan, 58, of Dallas, Ga., is from Chile but has lived most of her life in the United States. She has family in the major cities of Santiago and Concepcion, as well as in Temuco and a small village of Vilcun.

“My relatives, they are elderly, the ones I’ve been trying to call ... and I get nothing,” she said.

Monahan said she’s been watching news reports on TV but also getting what she can from TV Chile, which is being streamed online.

Monahan said Chile is “amazingly well-equipped” to handle a major natural disaster such as an earthquake.

“They have emergency services that are already out trying to clean up areas,” she said.

Hector Leon has family in Santiago, the capital city. The airport passenger terminal there suffered major damage, according to news reports.

Leon, 26, has other family in Concepcion, another major city, which was 70 miles from the earthquake’s epicenter.

Leon said the country is used to earthquakes, though it’s been a long time since a major one hit.

“It’s pretty much embedded in the culture to be prepared for earthquakes,” he told the AJC. “People have a fairly good idea of what to do.”

Some people began posting messages on Twitter and Facebook.

“God please protect my fam in Colombia! Prayrs 2 Chile,” wrote Atlanta resident Saudhy Sanjuanelo.