I survived my first major earthquake today... a 7.4! Our doorbell had just rang...Sis. Josefina, our housekeeper that comes on Wednesdays, had arrived. Lupita was in the dining room, Sara was in the kitchen, and I was walking in between. Sara felt it first... We stood there frozen for a few minutes...waiting for it to end but it just kept getting stronger. So we all headed outside. The cars were rocking on their wheels. It was strange - kind of surreal.
We found poor Sis. Josefina hugging on to a tree...near tears. She could only think about their last strong earthquake in 1976. That 7.5 quake killed 23,000 people and destroyed her neighborhood. She was more than a little "shaken."
We quickly made contact with Sis. Lynne. She turned around and called the orphanage. Our group from NC was working on scaffolding when it occurred so they were quite startled. Thankfully, no one was hurt and the buildings were still standing. (Now, maybe it will make it easier for people from the States to understand why the wall at the orphanage is a meter below ground, three meters above, and reinforced with rebar every 4 feet.)
It took a bit longer for us to make contact with the Bible School because the phone lines were down. However, all is well there as well. The only damage were items falling off the walls/shelves.
San Marcos, Guatemala suffered the most damage. Right now, the report is 39 dead with 23 missing. As sad as it is, it could have been SO much worse. Wow. Earthquakes are no joke.
On a side note: I'm very impressed with how efficiently Guatemala is handling this. Relief efforts are well under way. Most of the roads have already been restored enough to open at least one lane. Food/water is making its rounds. I didn't expect them to be so on top of things...it's awesome!
We found poor Sis. Josefina hugging on to a tree...near tears. She could only think about their last strong earthquake in 1976. That 7.5 quake killed 23,000 people and destroyed her neighborhood. She was more than a little "shaken."
We quickly made contact with Sis. Lynne. She turned around and called the orphanage. Our group from NC was working on scaffolding when it occurred so they were quite startled. Thankfully, no one was hurt and the buildings were still standing. (Now, maybe it will make it easier for people from the States to understand why the wall at the orphanage is a meter below ground, three meters above, and reinforced with rebar every 4 feet.)
It took a bit longer for us to make contact with the Bible School because the phone lines were down. However, all is well there as well. The only damage were items falling off the walls/shelves.
San Marcos, Guatemala suffered the most damage. Right now, the report is 39 dead with 23 missing. As sad as it is, it could have been SO much worse. Wow. Earthquakes are no joke.
On a side note: I'm very impressed with how efficiently Guatemala is handling this. Relief efforts are well under way. Most of the roads have already been restored enough to open at least one lane. Food/water is making its rounds. I didn't expect them to be so on top of things...it's awesome!
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