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MANILA, Philippines?All 75 Filipinos in Chile are safe after a magnitude-8.8 earthquake struck the country over the weekend, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.
In her report to DFA Secretary Alberto Romulo, Philippine Ambassador to Chile Consuelo Puyat-Reyes said a husband of a Philippine embassy personnel sustained an ankle injury after a wooden plank fell from a cabinet in their bedroom.
?There are 75 Filipinos in Chile, mostly priests, nuns, engineers, businessmen, and spouses of Chilean nationals. There are no Filipinos workers deployed in the country,? she said. The embassy has seven officers and staff members, including the ambassador.
Puyat-Reyes said that the country was still feeling some aftershocks and some flooding due to the tsunami. Electricity, water, and communications facilities are still down in the capital city of Santiago, where the embassy is located, she added.
Meanwhile, the Philippine embassy in Argentina also reported that the quake in Chile was also felt in Buenos Aires and in other Argentinean provinces, especially those along the long borders with Chile.
No victims or damage to structures have so far been reported, despite the strong aftershocks which continue to be felt, said Philippine Ambassador to Argentina Rey Carandang.
?The only recorded Filipinos in the provinces near the Chilean border are in Mendoza, notably four Society of the Divine Word priests and a Filipina married to an Argentinean national. We have spoken to Fr. Rupert Solis, who assured us that he and his companions are alright. He was particularly appreciative of our phone call. The Filipina married to an Argentinean is on holidays in the Philippines with her husband and children, according to her in-laws,? he said.
Carandang added that the embassy advised the Filipino community through its coordinator and email network to take the necessary precautions and communicate with the embassy should further emergency situation arises.
Most of the Filipinos in Argentina are concentrated in the capital city of Buenos Aires.
Also earlier, the Philippine consulate general in Honolulu, Hawaii, reported to the DFA that Consul General Leoncio Cardenas coordinated with state authorities and the leaders of the Filipino community in Hawaii in ensuring that community members there evacuated to high grounds in anticipation of the arrival of tsunami waves triggered by the Chile quakes.
According to Consul Paul Cortez, a number of consulate personnel and their families evacuated to the consulate premises which are further inland and on a high elevation.
Hawaii state officials later rescinded the advisory after the tsunami waves turned out to be not immediately threatening to lives and properties.
