McGill students safe in Chile

Early Saturday morning, a powerful earthquake struck Concepción, Chile, causing considerable and widespread damage, dozens, perhaps hundreds, of deaths and the likelihood of tsunamis in the Pacific region. McGill wishes to express its condolences to all who have been touched by this tragedy, while at the same time reporting that 24 of our students and Professor Anthony Williams-Jones, of the Earth and Planetary Sciences Department, who were on a field trip in the southern part of the country, are safe and sound. The families of the students have been notified through a phone chain set up before they left. The students had organized this trip to take place during reading week and were originally scheduled to return Monday. Their return may now be delayed by damage to roads, bridges and the Santiago airport.