Earthquake

Yesterday evening an Earthquke of magnitude 8.0 on the Richter Scale hit Peru, with the epicenter near Pisco. 70% of Pisco is in ruins according to BBC news. The current death toll is at 350 and likely to rise. I was in Pisco and Ica myself just a few weeks ago. Lima felt the earthquake very strongly and people were scared but damage and casualties there could have been a lot worse.

Here in Huaraz we felt it for about 30 seconds but it was fairly mild and there was no damage or casualties here. I was sitting playing chess in the very nice Cafe Andino and we felt the building move. At first I asked "Is that the wind?" but quikcly realised it couldn't be. We then started headed for the "Zona segura en caso de sismos" which every well built building should have marked - but by the time we got there it had passed. After a few minutes everyone went back to their coffees. We didn't actually realise until today how serious it was when we heard the news.

So myself and my friends are all fine. Whether we will be affected by ongoing problems remains to be seen. However, any inconvience to us is nothing compared to the devastation of the lives of many thousands south of Lima.

FC