wfn.org | Peru's Earthquake Survivors Helped By ADRA

[APD <APD_Info_Schweiz@compuserve.com>]

June 28, 2001
Adventist Press Service (APD)
Christian B. Schaeffler, Editor-in-chief
Fax +41-61-261 61 18
APD@stanet.ch
http://www.stanet.ch/APD
CH-4003 Basel, Switzerland

Peru's Earthquake Survivors Helped By Adventist 
Humanitarian Agency

Arequipa, Peru.      More than 100 people were 
killed and 1,100 injured after a magnitude 
7.9 earthquake rocked southern Peru and northern 
Chile June 23. The Adventist Development and Relief 
Agency International (ADRA) is helping survivors 
in southern Peru by distributing blankets, drinking 
water, and tents to 1,000 families in the Moquegua 
area, about 20 miles south of Arequipa.

ADRA Peru staff report that electric lines are down 
in many places and that blocked and damaged roads are 
slowing delivery of relief supplies. Aftershocks 
continue to keep people out in the cold of winter, 
according to Frank Teeuwen, bureau chief for disaster 
preparedness and response for ADRA International.  
Approximately 47,000 people have been impacted by the 
disaster.

"We are appealing for cash donations only because 
people need help right now," says Teeuwen. "Shipping 
food and material items will take too much time. 
People's lives have been completely turned upside down. 
With temperatures dipping below zero at night, we must 
focus on the urgent need for shelter."

The epicenter of the quake was located about 120 miles 
west of Arequipa, Peru's second largest city. In 
Moquegua, an estimated 60 percent of the city's homes 
were destroyed. In Chile, the city of Arica sustained 
the most damage. The quake rattled Lima, Peru, for more 
than a minute. 

Peru is located in the so-called "circle of fire," an 
area that begins on the American continent and extends 
to the Asian coast.  This is one of the most active 
seismic zones on the planet, with 80 percent of the 
world's earthquakes occurring in this area.