are one or two stories high. they tune into a different motion of the earthquakes. if this was a earthquake of some duration such as 30, 40 seconds, i don t know, maybe a minute, bridges would certainly be affected. bridges generally cross rivers with weak soils. that would amplify the ground motions, as well. that fully explains why we are seeing these dramatic pictures. it looks to be one tall spire, a tower of concrete supporting this bridge standing alone literally. everything standing between one tower and the next has fallen into this river/ravine area. take what you know about this and apply that to the cities that are more heavily populated. we saw some highways that seem to have collapsed upon themselves, certainly not at this altitude.
reporter, appears to be hugely affected, literally flattened. it s about a five-block area. i have been to santiago. i don t know the stent of the damage. reports are there is even more damage. we know for a fact this is a situation of complete confusion. there s a lot of universities, four universities in conception-on. there are a lot of students there, american students go to concepcion. we are getting reports by skip many are going on the internet to let their families know they are okay. it will be a while before we know the damages and dimension and amount of casualties, for sure. a very good point you make. we have heard from twitter people are trying to send their messages to loved ones and let them know the assessment of the situation there. we thank you for your assessment
they are going online via twitter and e-mail to let us and the world know what is going on. jose cruz writes, the quake seemed to last more than two minutes in santiago. buildings seemed to resist the quake very well. communications are very difficult and there is no power in most parts of the city. nicholas writing in, it was tremendous. the buildings were literally dancing in the air. i m worried about the people who live near concepcion because their communications are broken down. thank god we are prepared for any disaster of that type. also former american idol finalist elliot yami described the fear, complete and utter chaos on the streets. no power. my heart is beating out of my chest. tsunami warning. i m only a mile inland. i swear, i thought this was the end of my life. also from hawaii, a viewer tweeted me earlier saying, we are on alert around 11:00 a.m.
that they have been prepared in the past and they would deal with this as best they could. the pictures we are seeing are extreme in some cases, but we have to keep reminding people that we are only seeing concepcion and santiago, both which were far away from the epicenter. there are more areas unassessed at this point. michelle kosinksi in london, thank you for that. we are keeping our eyes trained on this story. there is other news, as well. after the break, more on the northeast digging out. [ telephone rings ] pepto-bismol. nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, and diarrhea. my son s got all that and he s on his first date. well, when he feels the instacool sensation, he ll know that pepto s about to kick in. honey, do you feel. the instacool sensation yes, mom. thank you, mrs. wagner. [ male announcer ] new pepto-bismol chewables with instacool. somewhere in america. the slightest breeze harbors immense power. the tallest buildings leave the lightest footprints.
there. thank you. joining me on the phone is a structural engineer who spent some time in chile. he also visited haiti after the quake there last month. good morning to you. good morning. first i want to get your assessment there of things in chile. we have remarkable pictures coming into us of a very highly elevated bridge that literally collapsed. it looks to be connecting two parts of ground over a ravine or river. it looks like it has completely collapsed. we believe because of our last reporter, that is an area between concepcion and santiago which will make a lot of trouble for relief efforts there. talk about the infrastructure and how strong it has been, especially since the wake of the 1960 quake. well, the infrastructures like bridges, for example, tends to behave a little bit differently than buildings that