Wednesday evening at 6:40 p.m. an 8.0 earthquake struck off the central coast of Peru southeast of Lima. Five minutes later I got a call from Lima telling me about it. The epicenter was about sixty miles off the coast from the two coastal towns (Mala and Cañete) where I was involved in building a school and a kindergarten between 1986-2001. Five minutes after the call I emailed the headmaster of the school in Mala to ask if anybody had been hurt, if the school had been damaged. Jose had written two weeks ago asking if I had forgotten about my school in the same way the Peruvian government had. This evening I received his answer. The school has been damaged, the roof and the retaining walls. About four hundred students attend this school. School is supposed to be in session. Between the school and the Pacific ocean trucks traverse the Pan-American highway (photo) headed south towards Cañete, Chincha, Ica and Pisco where seventy percent of the buildings were destroyed. Pisco had 116,865 people before Wednesday. The headmaster wrote that he would send photographs of the damage. I am at a loss about what I can do to help.
I have received more mail from Peru. A friend wrote "estamos bien pero muy asustados." We are well but asustados, a word I needed to look up. It's translation "like a deer in the headlights" is something I can relate to.
27 minutes ago
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