World promises to help Chile in rebuilding efforts

SANTIAGO, Chile - The United States and Europe promised financial support to Chile as teams of international relief workers descended on the South American nation, which suffered the Western Hemisphere's second massive earthquake in seven weeks, according to Agence France-Presse. Chile, one of South America's richest countries, appreciates the help but wanted to survey the total extent of the damage before beginning any relief effort. "We are very grateful for people's good intentions, but let's let the (Chilean) emergency office get its very specific report on needs done," Mariano Fernández, the country's foreign minister, told reporters. "[Chile does not want] aid from anywhere to be a distraction [to the disaster relief]. Any aid that arrives without having been determined to be needed really helps very little." The earthquake is believed to have damaged more than a million homes, caused cracks in roads, left millions without power and damaged the airport in the capital of Santiago, according to AFP. But the most severe damage happened in Concepción, the nation's second-largest city about 270 miles south of Santiago, which was very close to the epicenter. "We anticipate the situation in the worst-affected areas closer to the epicenter to be much more serious," said Pete Garratt, the disaster relief manager for Britain's Red Cross. "Our fear is that this quake will have had large-scale impact." Meantime, United Nations Chief Ban Ki-moon "is very closely monitoring developments, including the risk of Pacific Rim tsunamis, after the huge earthquake in Chile," his office told AFP. United States President Barack Obama said his government will approve any request made by the Chilean government for aid, and the European Union already has offered €3 million (US$4.09 million) that could be made available immediately, according to AFP. The United States "stands ready to assist in the rescue and recovery efforts, and we have resources that are positioned to deploy should the Chilean government ask for our help," Obama said during a speech.
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