No California State University students studying in Chile were harmed by the devastating earthquake that struck Concepcion on Saturday.
“Our first concern was to track down all of our students and make sure we knew where they were,” said Leo Van Cleve, CSU director of International Programs.
Van Cleve said the 29 CSU students studying at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile have been contacted by either e-mail or telephone.
“Everybody is accounted for and everybody is OK,” Van Cleve said.
The year-long program is currently on semester break. The second semester was scheduled to begin March 3 but has been postponed until March 8.
All future study abroad programs will continue as normal, according to Van Cleve. There will be no changes in next year’s program.
The 8.8 magnitude earthquake’s epicenter was off the coast of Chile, approximately 70 miles north of Concepcion.
“All of our students are studying in Santiago,” Van Cleve said. “That’s about 200 miles away [from the epicenter]; now there was damage in Santiago, but not nearly as extensive as Concepcion.”
International Programs is not currently planning any relief efforts, according to Van Cleve. He said this “doesn’t mean we won’t change our minds later.”