8 July 2019 - Ruins of The Enrique Molina Theatre in Chile

 Ruins of The Enrique 

Molina Theatre in Chile

G'day folks,

The ruins of a grand theater destroyed during the most powerful seismic catastrophe ever recorded. 

 

 

Ruined by the foreshocks of the most powerful earthquake ever recorded, this once-grand neoclassical theater serves as a permanent reminder of the seismic threats constantly haunting Chile.

 

After just 25 years as a performance venue, the Enrique Molina Theatre was destroyed by a series of four devastating earthquakes in May 1960, which unleashed a quarter of the 20th century’s total global seismic energy on Southern Chile in just 33 hours.

The three Concepción quakes—which measured up to a magnitude 8.3—were shortly followed by the record-breaking magnitude 9.6 Valdivia earthquake. The catastrophic rumblings reduced a third of Concepción’s buildings to no more than ruins and rubble. The Enrique Molina Theatre ruins are a sobering relic of this natural disaster.
 
The once-grand neoclassical theater was meant to be an architectural and cultural treasure, until nature made other plans for its fate. It was named after the co-founder of The University of Concepción, Enrique Molina Garmendia. It was originally intended as a college theater for another of Molina Garmendia’s educational enterprises, the Concepción Men’s College (Liceo de Hombres de Concepción).

A movement to salvage the grand theater gained support during the beginning of the 21st century. An architect was chosen, and local government funding for the restoration was secured in 2009, a year which saw the ruins declared a National Historical Monument. Sadly, in 2010, a magnitude 8.8 earthquake shook Concepción again, causing further damage to the already precarious edifice. 

Municipal funds for the theater’s reconstruction were redirected elsewhere after the 2010 earthquake, leaving a once-beautiful theatre in a state of poetic decay at the heart of Chile’s quake-prone second city.    

Clancy's comment: What a shame, eh? She looks like a grand old lady, even now.

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5 July 2019 - THE DEVIL'S BLAST MINE IN CHILE

THE DEVIL'S BLAST 

MINE IN CHILE

G'day folks,

The hellish conditions of this abandoned mine that snakes beneath the Pacific Ocean gave it its diabolic name. 

 

A labyrinthine underground passageway snakes for roughly half a mile beneath the Pacific Ocean. With its lack of artificial ventilation and tremor-prone nature, this former mine is no place for the faint-hearted.

 

Accessed merely yards from the pounding Pacific surf, a chilly wind accompanies the daring descent into the Devil’s Blast (El Chiflón del Diablo), an abandoned coal mine near Concepción. After it opened in 1857, the mine was soon given its diabolic forename by the intrepid miners who worked this underworld in truly hellish conditions, braving toxic gases, low oxygen levels, and frequent earth tremors.

The second part of the Devil’s Blast’s name recalls the unique way it was naturally ventilated via the action of strong coastal breezes. These fierce gusts still whistle and howl through the pit’s narrow, forbidding entrances and tunnels. It was one of the only operational mines in the world that didn’t rely on some form of an artificial ventilation system to protect the miners from suffocating.

The Devil’s Blast employed 3,000 people by the time it was closed in 1997. The site was re-opened as a visitor attraction in an attempt to entice tourists to Lota, which, with the demise of the Chilean coal-mining industry, had lost its main employer. Today, tours of this labyrinthine netherworld are conducted by former miners and last between 30 minutes and two hours.

In 2009, the Devil’s Blast was designated a “National Monument” by the Chilean government. In February 2010, a massive earthquake measuring 8.8 on the richter scale caused damage to some above-ground parts of the attraction, but the mine tours recommenced the following year.  

Clancy's comment: I think I'd rather surf on the beach than crawl through those tunnels.

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