Survivor Remembers Tsunami’s Devastation 15 Years Later

San Juan Bautista, Robinson Crusoe Island – When Pedro ‘Peter’ Niada awoke early on February 27, 2010, to find his house tilting and water filling the rooms, confusion washed over him. At 4:30 a.m., uncertain of what was happening, he stepped down the stairs and felt water splash against his feet. It was only then he realized his home was sinking.

Looking through the curtain at The Flying Fish, the tourist lodge he built by hand, Niada saw the chaos unfold outside. The island was now 100 yards away as his house was swept out to sea. A colossal wave had struck, and Niada screamed to his family, “Tsunami!”

In the dim light, his partner, Fabiana Persia, and their two children were asleep. She initially thought it was a prank when Niada shouted about the tsunami. But as they peered out to the turmoil, a kayak banged against the window, a sign of the disaster unfolding. Boats and homes were being sucked into a whirlpool, and screams filled the air.

A guest, Matthew Westcott, took charge. As an experienced sailor, he knew a fishing boat nearby was their only hope. He swam through the debris to reach it and helped as Niada climbed through a window to reach safety with his daughter, Luz.

“Pass me Dante!” Niada called to Persia but she did not want to separate from their son. Together, they swam toward the boat, dodging wreckage and neighbors in distress. Once they reached the boat, they quickly made their way away from the chaos, but Niada was concerned another wave was approaching.

As the boat steadied on the shore, Niada’s family made a hasty escape, running barefoot away from the crashing waves. “We had a cabin on the hill, with some clothes,” Niada recalled. “Nothing up there got hit.”

After hours of rescue efforts, they learned of the earthquake that triggered the tsunami, measuring 8.8 on the Richter scale, devastating the Chilean coast and killing 525 people. On their island, four out of five homes were destroyed, and sixteen residents lost their lives, including Dante’s best friend.

The following days were filled with grief and chaos, but Niada took on the grim task of searching for bodies among the wreckage. He remembered them in a makeshift memorial on the beach, with wooden crosses bearing flowers. The once vibrant village was now unrecognizable.

Niada struggled with depression and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder after the tragedy. He moved between family homes in search of stability before finally finding a small apartment in Santiago. Even in their new home, memories of the wave haunted him.

Fifteen years after that fateful day, Niada returned to his hometown for the first time, unannounced, on the anniversary of the tsunami. As he prepared to guide divers, he was met with tears and embraces from former neighbors, reminding him of their shared loss.

“It was like an atomic bomb,” Persia reflected. “Houses were encrusted into the hillside.” The memories may remain, but Niada is now forging ahead, rekindling his love for the ocean while remembering all that was lost.