Quake slows Virginia-led astronomy effort

A Virginia-led international astronomy project in Chile was not damaged by the country's 8.8-magnitude earthquake but will remain dark until Saturday because of earthquake-related issues.

None of the staff or their families suffered serious injuries, although many reported severe property damage.

Al Wootten, a Charlottesville astronomer who's in Chile as the North American project scientist, said he and his wife, Ida, were more than 100 miles north of Santiago when the quake hit. The quake's epicenter was about 200 miles south of Santiago.

Wootten said in an e-mail that despite the distance, he was awakened by the quake Saturday at 3:30 a.m. and "knew it was a big one. It grew and grew. Ida whispered, 'Is this an earthquake?' but we barely had time to think before there was no question. Everything was shaking dramatically. We ran outside with other guests until it seemed safe to come in again. . . .

"Everything here is on steep hillsides over the Pacific — [I] had nightmares of just sliding down the hill in the bed!"

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array is being constructed about 750 miles north of Santiago by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Charlottesville with an international team from Europe and Japan.

The ALMA team announced in January that three of the planned 66 radio telescopes worked successfully in unison for the first time in November, calling it a "key milestone crucial for the high-quality images that will be the trademark of this revolutionary new tool for astronomy."

Wootten said the telescope is suspending operations for the rest of the week because the Santiago airport was damaged. Workers basically are trapped at the Atacama site until flights can resume, he said. Returning by bus takes about 24 hours.

Wootten said that on his own drive back to Santiago, he saw about six pedestrian overpasses that collapsed on the highway. Rock slides forced several detours onto side roads. Gasoline stations had long lines. The express lane into Santiago had collapsed, so all traffic was routed onto city streets.

He said his worst problem now is walking up 19 floors to reach ALMA offices, because the building's elevators aren't working. His apartment wasn't damaged, though his building had some broken windows on the ground floor and top floors.

The airport had more damage because it's built on a dry lakebed "and those places tend to vibrate a lot in an earthquake," he said.

Wootten and his wife are supposed to fly out Friday. She's returning to Virginia. He's going to Japan for a meeting of ALMA partners.

"We're just pushing ahead," he said. "It's exciting. I've been working on this project for 27 years. It's exciting to see it coming together."

Katherine Calos is a staff writer at the Richmond Times-Dispatch.