Thirteen families in Villa El Mirador, in the municipality of Arauco (Biobío region), left their homes in the early hours of Wednesday. On the night of Tuesday, October 13, Los Jazmines street buckled and fractured beside the sinkhole affecting the area.
According to BioBioChile, residents of platform 200 heard a noise resembling an explosion. When they went outside to investigate, they saw the street facing the hillside beginning to give way and tilt. The damage is located between phases one and two of the housing development.
The ground fracture is nearly half a kilometer long. Meganoticias reported that in four days the crack grew from 20 centimeters into a hole 6 meters deep that is now breaking through the pavement.
The evacuated families comprise 33 people, six of them children, according to Meganoticias. The Arauco municipal government said they made their own way to relatives’ homes. The National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (Senapred) said one family remains at the site and no one has been injured.
The risk extends beyond those 13 houses. Senapred counts 330 homes and 658 people at risk on platform 100 in the area. The service is also preparing a register to relocate between 40 and 48 families on the front line of platform 200 with rental subsidies, along with 3 or 4 homes that were already uninhabitable because of structural defects.
The presidential delegate for Arauco province, Pedro Marileo, explained to Radio Bío Bío why the houses are in danger: "The houses would fall toward the sinkhole because it is eating away underneath them." He added that the fracture is advancing beneath the street toward the homes.
Municipal Public Safety, Health and Disaster Risk Management teams worked at the site, along with firefighters, police and the GRIAR Rescue Group. The Housing and Urban Development Service (Serviu) is assessing the damage, and the National Geology and Mining Service (Sernageomin) is surveying the hill with drones to measure ground stability.
The Ministry of Housing announced a rental subsidy of 11 UF, just over 400 thousand pesos, for 26 families, according to Meganoticias. The sources do not clarify whether that group includes the 13 evacuated families. Authorities acknowledged that few houses are available to rent in the municipality, and residents continue searching for somewhere to live.
Meanwhile, police and firefighters patrol the neighborhood at night to protect the belongings of those who left. The municipal government is keeping the Peña Dorada Community Center open as a precautionary shelter. Authorities have not announced a date for the release of Sernageomin’s technical report or a permanent solution for the families.
