Strohschank is resident director of the George Washington University Latin America study program, where she oversees students studying abroad in Chile and Argentina. Strohschank lives in Santiago, Chile, which is about 200 miles from the epicenter of the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that struck off of Chile’s coast Saturday. There were two GW students studying in Chile at the time, and both were safe and accounted for following the quake, which killed more than 700 people and damaged a half-million homes.
Where were you and what were you doing when the earthquake struck?
I was at home in bed in our 10th-floor apartment in the Nunoa neighborhood of Santiago. I happened to be awake because my 8-month-old daughter, who still sleeps in our room, had woken up several minutes earlier, so I was trying to coax her back to sleep. Our “earthquake spot” — every Chilean household has a designated one — is downstairs on the lower level of the apartment, so in retrospect, I wonder if the fact that I was awake already didn’t buy us some very valuable time. The stairs were already shaking as we went down them, and I think even a 30-second delay would have made it much more difficult to get down.
What were your thoughts immediately following the quake?
My immediate reaction was an immense sense of relief that my husband, my daughter and I were all safe. Both my husband and I work as resident directors for study abroad programs in Chile, so as soon as we had calmed down and wrapped our minds around the fact that the three of us were OK, worry set in again as we asked ourselves if our students were all right.
Can you describe the destruction that you have seen over the past few days?
Most of Santiago held up very, very well. Looking out the window of our apartment, it looks like any other Monday evening. … The only sign of the earthquake is the bell tower of a nearby church, which is slightly crooked.
– Alana Goodman
