Ángel Páez

LIMA, Aug 16 2007 (IPS) – The fishing port of Pisco, 167 kilometres south of the Peruvian capital, was the town worst hit by the devastating earthquake which shook nearly the whole country for two minutes late Wednesday, reaching a magnitude of 7 on the Richter scale. The death toll continues to climb.
Other cities damaged by the shock waves were Ica, Chincha, Paracas and Cañete, located along the Pacific coast. The epicentre was pinpointed under the sea, 60 kilometres west of Pisco and 33 kilometres deep, according to the National Geophysical Institute.

The most recent earthquake of similar magnitude in Peru was in October 1974, and reached 6.6 on the Richter scale.

The National Civil Defence Institute, which is directing rescue operations, reported at least 450 people killed and over one thousand injured, but did not rule out more victims coming to light as the search for survivors among the rubble continues.

The Civil Defence Institute also reported that 80,000 people lost everything and 16,000 houses were destroyed in the province of Chincha alone, around Ica, one of the worst hit towns.

A large number of shantytowns along the coast in the port of Callao are being pounded by large waves, and the same is happening in the north of the country. Schools have been closed and Congress is not in session because its building was damaged.
The flow of information about the extent of the disaster is growing as communications are restored. The south of Peru had been practically cut off, with no electricity, drinking water or telephones.

In Pisco, at least 250 people were killed. Everything indicates that, unfortunately, the death toll will rise, because we still have not been able to reach several devastated areas, said the chief of Civil Defence, Luis Felipe Palomino.

Seventy percent of the casualties were in Pisco, he added.

Aircraft belonging to the Peruvian Air Force (FAP), which has a base in Pisco, have begun to overfly the areas affected by the earthquake.

Pisco is practically destroyed. There are urban areas without a single house left standing. There must be over 1,000 dead here, a FAP source told IPS about the impact suffered by this fishing and agribusiness town of 130,000 people, located on the edge of a desert.

There are hundreds of dead bodies in the streets and thousands of injured people in the hospitals. It s indescribable. Three-quarters of the town has been devastated, said the mayor of Pisco, Juan Mendoza, on a local radio programme. There s no water or electricity. We need help! We need a hand!

We re going from village to villagem and we re finding victims at all of them, said Ica Mayor Mariano Nacimiento. We have 80 dead here. What we most need is medicines and field hospitals.

The earthquake began at 6:40 p.m. local time (23:40 GMT) on Wednesday and lasted for over two minutes.

Because that is rush hour, traffic was thrown into chaos in Lima and other cities. But the worst thing was the breakdown of telecommunications.

The situation was so exasperating that even President Alan García complained about the lack of telephones and ordered an investigation into the subject, during a message to the nation at 10 p.m. local time.

This Thursday García travelled to Pisco with a rescue team, a shipment of medicines, food and a broad range of assistance. As he passed by, residents demanded more help. We need more coffins! they shouted.

Health authorities in Ica, Pisco and Chincha asked for field hospitals, because existing hospital facilities have collapsed under the flood of injured people. They have no way of treating the injured, they said.

Ica is a coastal region in the south of the country that has experienced remarkable economic growth in recent years driven by agricultural exports.

Pisco, in the same region, is the terminal for the Camisea natural gas pipeline, but pipeline operator Transportadora de Gas del Peru (TGP) has not reported any damage so far.

At the time of writing, aftershocks of the earthquake were still being felt.

The head of Seismology at the National Geophysical Institute, Hernando Tavera, told IPS that 350 aftershocks have been confirmed, and that they will continue.

The most powerful aftershock was felt at 5:30 a.m. (11:30 GMT) this Thursday, and reached 6 on the Richter scale, but was very brief. Another, nearly five hours later, was so violent that people ran out into the streets again, fearing more damage.

Tavera said that Wednesday s quake had a magnitude of 7 on the Richter scale. He said that an earlier report had indicated a magnitude of 7.9, but that was an error of measurement.

Civil Defence had begun to organise the evacuation of the La Punta district in the port of Callao, near Lima, in response to warnings of a possible tsunami in the aftermath of the earthquake.

Hundreds of people were taken to a large park in Callao, but in the early hours of Thursday the operation was cancelled. Only large waves were breaking, which flooded many houses along the coastline, especially in poor neighbourhoods. In the past, La Punta has been hit hard by tidal waves.

In low-income, older areas of Lima, like Barrios Altos and Rimac, overcrowded residential buildings collapsed. Civil Defence estimated that 60 families were left homeless.

The Peruvian capital did not suffer extensive damage, but panic and terror were widespread.

In the face of this kind of tragedy, there are always people who will take advantage of the misfortunes of others. Residents reported to the press that bus companies had tripled the price of tickets on routes going to the south of the country, where the earthquake had its direst effects.

People have been complaining constantly on the radio, demanding that the government take immediate action against the bus companies. They re vultures! passengers protested.