From the Worldwide Faith News archives www.wfn.org


LWF Provides Assistance to El Salvador's Earthquake Victims


From FRANKI@elca.org
Date 17 Jan 2001 08:43:17

Entire Neighborhoods Buried in Landslides

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador/GENEVA, 17 January 2001 (LWI) - The Lutheran World
Federation (LWF) Department for World Service (DWS) program staff in El
Salvador is distributing food and other relief items among survivors of the
powerful earthquake that struck the country on January 13.

More than 600 people are confirmed dead and over 2,000 injured following the
7.6-magnitude earthquake that also affected neighboring Guatemala. The death
toll is expected to rise significantly, as it is feared that hundreds of
victims are still buried under earth and debris. Salvadoran authorities are
predicting further tremors that could create more havoc.

Rudelmar Bueno de Fario, the LWF's representative in El Salvador says people
afraid of the aftershocks are sleeping outdoors--in gardens and on the
streets. Many of the houses damaged by the first earthquake were "totally
destroyed," by less powerful tremors on January 15, he says. According to
official estimates, the earthquake ruined more than 9,000 homes and
partially wrecked another 26,000.

The rural community of San Augustin is among those that are severely
damaged, says de Fario who is also responsible for the LWF-DWS program in
Guatemala. Santa Tecla, a neighborhood established in 1854 as a new capital
outside the earthquake prone zone, was buried in mudslides, resulting in the
death of some 450 people.

De Fario says many rural areas are inaccessible because major highways have
been damaged or rendered impassable by landslides. Much of the electricity
infrastructure has been destroyed and telephone service is sporadic. Local
media reports say San Salvador's water supply system is not functional.

Meanwhile members of Action by Churches Together (ACT) have pledged USD
215,000 in a first response to the devastating earthquake. The LWF is a
founding member of the Geneva based-ACT, a worldwide network of churches and
related agencies meeting human need through coordinated emergency.

ACT which has already given USD 50,000 in rapid response funds to provide
shelter, food and other relief items to the earthquake victims says it will
issue a USD 3 million appeal for El Salvador next week.

(The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) is a global communion of 131 member
churches in 72 countries representing over 60 million of the world's 63.8
million Lutherans. The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches in areas of
common interest such as ecumenical relations, theology, humanitarian
assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects of mission
and development work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the information service of the LWF.
Unless specifically noted, material presented does not represent positions
or opinions of the LWF or of its various units. Where the dateline of an
article contains the notation (LWI), the material may be freely reproduced
with acknowledgement.]

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