What's Shak'n?

I just wanted to touch base and let everybody know that I'm alive and well...unlike other parts of Peru.

As I am sure many of you have heard, yesterday (August 15, 2007) there was a HUGE earthquake down here in Peru. Actually, there were 4 of them within an hour; all of which were above 7.0 on the Richter scale. The biggest occurred off shore and was measured at 7.9. Pretty scary, eh? You're telling me!

I find it especially scary for a couple of reasons. First, being from Minnesota, I am not really used to earthquakes in general. My first experience was in Costa Rica back in 2005, and I've felt a couple of cute shakes here in Peru since my arrival. However, this time, the ground was shaking for about 2 minutes! Also, Peru has a pretty fierce history with deadly earthquakes. The most notable occurred in 1970, when a massive earthquake, measuring 7.7, killed about 70,000 people in central Peru. About half of the inhabitants of Huaraz died (the capital city of the department I will be living in), and an entire city was buried, killing 18,000 people (near my new site). Therefore, my initial reaction was to wonder if I would even be able to return to my site.

Although there were many casualties and tragedies, everyone I know (and all those affiliated with the Peace Corps) is well. More so, things could be much worse. They are estimating that about 500 have died and about 1500 are injured. Although it is a very sad situation, the death toll is relatively low considering the strength of the tremor.

At the time of the first shake, I was in a combi, stuck in traffic, in downtown Lima with some fellow youth development volunteers. Actually, we were all quite lucky. Our original travel plans fell through, and we were forced to wait about 45 minutes for our transportation. Had this not happened, we would have been on the top floor of our Assistant Country Director's apartment complex (where we were for a few of the aftershocks...and which received a good shaking as plates and artifacts were broken on the floor, and all wall hangings were crooked).

Originally, we suspected that the combi was breaking down. Then, I thought perhaps our diver was having problems with the clutch. However, after looking out the window, I noticed that the other cars were jumping around too. More so, the trees were shaking, the lamp posts were rocking, and people were fleeing buildings. The first earthquake lasted for about two minutes...which seemed like forever.

At a few moments last night, I could hear the rocks rolling around in the hills above my house as I went to sleep. Everything was pretty stirred up. This mornings paper said that there were 4 earthquakes and about 140 aftershocks. However, several aftershocks were felt into the later part of this morning. What's more, the water in the Pacific receded creating a tidal wave that reached up to 500 meters on shore! What a horribly magnificent experience. I hear they felt the tremble all the way into Columbia. It is sad indeed. Entire cities lay flattened and families are mourning perished loved ones...and others are still looking for those misplaced.

Most people are pretty shaken up right now. Just when I thought the Minneapolis bridge incident would be the biggest tragedy of my Peace Corps experience, Peru had to retort. Anyway, I just wanted all of you to know that I am alive and well. Please, be careful and stay mindful of your brothers and sisters suffering on the southern continent.