SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Chileans' knowledge of earthquakes, combined with the abnormally long time it took for the February 27 quake to reach its crescendo, saved thousands of lives, a leading geophysicist said on Thursday. Experts have been investigating why Chile's 8.8-magnitude quake, the world's fifth strongest recorded earthquake since 1900, killed relatively few people -- around 500, by the ...

MIAMI (Reuters) - World number one Serena Williams has pulled out of next week's Sony Ericsson Open due to a knee injury, organizers said on Friday. The American's withdrawal is another blow to the tournament after former Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova and world number two Dinara Safina had already pulled out. Williams has won the Key Biscayne event five ...

Chile unveiled an initial, 110-million-dollar reconstruction plan Friday to put the central region back on its feet after a devastating earthquake and tsunami. The plan focuses on immediate priorities, such as providing shelter to families made homeless by the quake, restoring school attendance and creating jobs in coastal areas that bore the brunt of the catastrophe, government spokeswoman Ena Von ...