Quake in Chile Damages University of Concepción; American Students Are Safe

In the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that struck near Concepción, Chile, early Saturday, initial reports said that a fire had broken out in a science building at the University of Concepción. But with communications badly interrupted and the university’s Web site down, additional details were difficult to obtain.

Meanwhile, 27 University of Notre Dame students and staff members who were in Chile’s capital, Santiago, were reported safe. And a group of business-school students and faculty members from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville who were on their way to the same city were also reported safe. Three faculty members had already arrived in the city, but the  students and four other professors were on planes that were diverted to other cities after the quake struck.

The University of South Carolina at Columbia said it had been able to reach its seven students who were studying in Chile, and the University of Colorado at Boulder said it had been in touch with all five of its students known to be in the country.