Please note: In 2015, after I wrote this article, my understandings of the quindecile, a 24° aspect, were born out of the new–mathematically accurate–name for the 165° aspect, now called undecaquartisextile. Please read about the Undecaquartisextile as its related aspect patterns which can be found in the Pluto – Full On series. You’ll find the Pluto – Full On series under the subcategory of Undecaquartisextile, located in the Feature Articles tab. Thanks for your patience with the modification of the name.
At 7:54:32 pm tonight, about 29 miles (46 km) west of Illapel, the largest of 10 earthquakes hit Chile tonight with this one measuring the strongest magnitude at 8.3. According to CNN, the epicenter was about 34 miles (54 km) west, but I suppose with this size of a quake, 5 miles doesn’t really make that much of a difference. As I write this now, at least five people are known dead and three of seven injuries were serious. Some homes have also been damaged, and the nation has begun coastal evacuations of about a million people with concerns growing about a potential tsunami coming next.
From CNN
Chile sits on the “Ring of Fire,” the Pacific volcanic arc and series of fault lines where volcanoes and earthquakes frequently occur. The tsunami warnings, however, have been extended from Chile to Peru, Ecuador and Mexico, throughout the Pacific Islands, including Hawaii and the southern coastal areas of California, and to the east coast of New Zealand and Japan. CNN noted, “Large tsunami waves have been observed along the Chilean coast, near the quake’s epicenter. In Coquimbo, Chile, a wave was measured at more than 15 feet, according to the U.S. National Tsunami Warning center.”
Chile earthquake: 8.3-magnitude quake strikes off coast
CNN’s “Earthquakes Fast Facts” and “How earthquakes are measured” offer quick lessons on earthquakes and thngs you may not have known about them.
When we look at earthquakes by size and consider that 852 people were killed in San Miguel, El Salvador from a 7.7 quake in January 2001 and around 20000 died the same month and year in a 7.7 quake in Gujarat, India, it’s simply mind boggling that so few injuries and deaths have occurred with this larger one tonight in Chile! CNN noted the occurrence of about one million earthquakes a year and only one measuring 8 or higher per year is normally expected. This one was it. The USGS reported at least another 12 aftershocks of 4.9 and higher had been felt in the area in a matter of two hours.
I really wasn’t especially surprised to see the angular Cardinal T-square showing. That seems to be a pattern all too often with earthquakes, and here it was again with 7th house Mercury in opposition to first house Uranus and in square to Pluto’s 58-minute partile conjunction to the Midheaven (MC). But with the last five minutes of Saturn in Scorpio showing and Mercury now stationing at Libra 16, what shows in the Sabian symbols as Dane Rudhyar notes, A HAPPY CREW IS RESTORING BEACH PIERS WRECKED BY STORMS while Lynda Hill writes, AFTER THE STORMS OF WINTER, A BOAT LANDING STANDS IN NEED OF RECONSTRUCTION. I’m mentioning both because of a point of interest for me: Chile is at the end of the winter season, and piers are likely to need restoring or being fully rebuilt. But whether the repair crew will be happy remains to be seen as the process of rebuilding actually begins.
The tsunami alert has been sounded, and obviously it will be a while before anyone can take the next steps. Nevertheless, as this symbol points out, there will be enough damage to warrant repair crews coming out to assist in the rebuilding again. All things damaged whether by earthquakes or tsunamis that may follow now will need to be repaired, renewed or replaced, the kind of thing Mercury’s position at Libra 16 will bring out with such a natural catastrophe.
Were this anywhere else in the world, where earthquakes aren’t as frequent as they are in Chile, people might get used to having their homes and possessions as they have always expected them to be. But perhaps life in this region is always tentative, always changing according to the number of earthquakes that can take place here.
The Moon at Scorpio 5 at the time of the quake as well had an interesting placement as the Sabians go: A MASSIVE ROCKY SHORE UNCHANGED BY CENTURIES OF STORMS. The words ring true as they’re shared in Rudhyar’s The Astrology of Personality: “Revelation of absolutely stable elements in all life. Strong confidence born of fundamental perception; or spiritual inertia.”
The Chilean coastline will, of course, shift and change as the tides alone beat against the shore, creating an undulating look to the sands. Earthquakes don’t change these things. The sands move and shift with time and water. Coastlines change. But the houses along the coastline will be destroyed by tsunamis or earthquakes. That’s inevitable, isn’t it?
The Jupiter-Neptune opposition was merely in a 4-minute partile aspect by the time this quake had hit. Charitable outreach will be needed, of course–from the schools to the children to helping the rebuilding process. The key will be inherently tied to that sextile Venus and Mercury, but Mars can now begin to motivate those who live here by picking up where the onslaught left off.
Four undecaquartisextiles–from the Sun in Virgo to the Ascendant in Aries and the 49-minute partile aspect Sun to Neptune in Pisces, from Mars in Leo to Neptune, and then the Moon in Pluto-ruled Scorpio (yes, and Mars too) making a 26-minute partile aspect to Uranus in Aries–speak of what will need to be done now. Workers will need to be constantly focused on improvements and positive efforts, to keep their spirits and morale high and to avoid spreading themselves too thinly. They could become overwhelmed if they do so. But of course, in a region like this, people already know the things that need to be done. All the same, they’ll need to be careful to be aware of the health dangers and alert to the unexpected. People will need to work together to maintain their strength so health doesn’t wear down but to focus on their goals through conviction, determination, and dedication to what needs to be done. And finally, by maintaining that positive focus, they can rebuild, regenerate and transform once again. While these tasks may not be easy, it would seem to imply the Chileans are up for the task.
It’s interesting, you know: Mars serves as the chart ruler with Uranus in Mars-ruled Aries sitting in the 1st. Both the destruction and the rebuilding process begin here. But Pluto at the apex of the chart reminds us that this planet known for transformation–like Shiva–may make the decisions of what stays or goes. Change and transformation will take place despite all efforts otherwise. It’s inevitable. Perhaps that’s why they don’t always leave places like these. Nature, I suppose, invariably points to our need to remember “Que Sera Sera“–“what will be will be.”
I’m thinking of the children and hope they are all safely tucked in for the night…
Namaste, I love you.
©2015 Michelle Young