another quake hits Chile..

awoke at 9:30am to my first morning in Vina del Mar. After a lovely nights sleep I crept to the bathroom only to be reminded of the reality all water in the fifth region has been shut off due to complication with the earthquake which hit the 27th of February. I suffice with bottled water to fill the tank and brush my teeth. Three gringas and myself opt to venture out and explore valparaiso. We descend the steep hill to avenida espana where we hail a bus to drive us along the coast.
Arriving at a shopping mall in valpo (valparaiso) we decide first to grab a bite to eat in the cafeteria. Janette, who has already eatten begins to shop. As tara, angela, and myself sit down to enjoy the first few bites of our desayuno (breakfast)..I feel as if my head is throbbing or my heart is racing, or perhaps my body is trembling. Then i notice my glass of juice is trembling, "do you guys feel that?" as we each shift our eyes to our glasses. i look up and notice the chilean employees surrounding us have stopped in their tracks, some embracing, and all with the look of panic washing over their faces. The trembling turns to swaying as fear rises in me, "it's escalating you guys!" This aftershock lasts much longer than the others and soon an alarm sounds. We are ushered out by staff to "tienen que subir" (YOU MUST GO UP!) as everyone climbs the stairs 5 floors to the rooftop. Me and the girls question why we have gone to rooftop which happens to be the most dangerous place during a quake and then we hear "tsunami" on the lips of all the panicked chileans rushing past us.
We wait on rooftop, no more than 4 blocks from the ocean shore, watching the huge ships flea the harbor. On every hill side people are climbing and watching the shore line, awaiting the tsunami. Still seperated from our dear friend Janette, we each try to call her--all phones are down. When people begin to descend from the rooftop we follow. The buses are crammed full of people trying to flea as well as leave the anaugeration of the president which also happened this morning in valparaiso. We manage to squeeze into a bus, while two men hold on for dear life, half out the door. Still without Janette we arrive at the hostel and turn on the t.v. to be informed of the magnitude of the aftershock which was declared another quake. As the tsunami alert is lifted the news covers people trembling in fear still climbing the hills.
My roommate menfis calls worried about my state of being. She tells me I must seek a place high in the hills, due to the tsunami alert. our call is cut off as I inform loved ones from the state that i am safe. Moments later Janette knocks on our hostel door..ravaged. She said she had never experienced anything more terrifying. She had fled with all the people running to the tops of the hills, she said she was surrounded by women wailing, children with chilean flags, and drunkards yelling about the tsunami just minutes away.
We are all safe in the hostel in this moment awaiting Mother Nature's next move. When asked in english by passerbyers, "you like our country?" janette responds with a gringa smile, "oh yah! it's just been a bit shakey"