Numerous climbing websites, like cochamo.com, pictured here, are reporting news from Saturday’s earthquake off the coast of Chile. It appears that major climbing areas in the southern Andes were not seriously impacted.
After the 8.8-magnitude earthquake hit South America last weekend, Alpinist asked readers of the March 1, 2010 NewsWire to provide information about climbing areas that might have been affected. In numerous reports, from Chalten to Aconcagua, readers responded with good news.
“Fortunately the force of the earthquake this past Saturday went north and spared the more southern areas popular for alpinism in the southern Andes,” one reader wrote. “Reports from Cochamo and Chalten indicate tremors were felt but little significant damage occurred. Some guides evacuated clients for safety reasons but many climbers have stayed in the mountains and continued their respective endeavors. Some climbers have hiked out of the areas to learn of the news only to return to base camps due to transportation problems that essentially have conveniently stranded them at the areas. The Bariloche area also appears to have escaped significant effects.”
Thanks to all our readers who responded. If you have additional earthquake-related information, please contact Alpinist’s editorial department.