PERU: DEATH TOLL IN PERUVIAN EARTHQUAKE LURCHES HIGHER AS THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE SCRAMBLE FOR SCARCE TENTS, FOOD AND WARM CLOTHING

Record ID: 584748

  • Title: PERU: DEATH TOLL IN PERUVIAN EARTHQUAKE LURCHES HIGHER AS THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE SCRAMBLE FOR SCARCE TENTS, FOOD AND WARM CLOTHING
  • Date: 26th June 2001
  • Summary: (U5) TACNA, PERU (JUNE 26, 2001)(REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. VARIOUS OF DESTRUCTION; DAMAGED BUILDINGS (2 SHOTS) 0.13 2. VARIOUS: PEOPLE DIGGING AND WAITING IN RUINS (6 SHOTS) 0.52 3. LV: SUPPLY AIRPLANE PREPARING TO LAND 1.00 4. SV/TRAVELLING SHOTS: MORE OF RUINS (3 SHOTS) 1.25 5. LV: FUNERAL FOR VICTIMS 1.36 6. SV'S: INDIGENOUS PEOPLE WALKING IN FUNERAL PROCESSION (3 SHOTS) 1.59 7. VARIOUS OF DESTRUCTION ON ROADS (4 SHOTS) 2.24 (U5) MOQUEGUA, PERU (JUNE 26, 2001)(REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) (NIGHTSHOTS) 8. SCU: (SOUNDBITE)(Spanish) UNIDENTIIFED EARTHQUAKE VICTIM SAYING: "I have faith in the government will help us. Unitl now we haven't received any but I am hopeful that President Paniagua will send us help." 2.35 9. CU: POLICE CAUTION TAPE 2.38 10. VARIOUS OF DESTRUCTION (3 SHOTS) 2.56 11. SV: WOMAN AND CHILD LIVING IN TENT 3.03 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 11th July 2001 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LIMA, PERU
  • Country: Peru
  • Reuters ID: LVADGLSVHRSLK1X1MEQSFEYRBVHP
  • Story Text: Tens of thousands of Peruvians hit by a devastating
    earthquake scrambled for scarce tents, food and warm
    clothing, as the death toll lurched higher in isolated
    villages.


    The national civil defense agency said 97 people were
    reported dead -- 39 of whom died in a tidal wave triggered by
    the fierce quake -- and more than 46,400 people homeless.

    More than 50 people have been reported missing and
    officials expect the death toll to mount.

    The U.S. Geological Survey, meanwhile, upgraded the
    magnitude of Saturday's quake that flattened villages from
    from the Andes to the Pacific coast to 8.1 -- a "great"
    earthquake -- from an earlier estimate of a "major" 7.9
    earthquake.

    The sea reportedly receded more than half a mile (1 km) in
    the seaside town of Camana and the tidal wave left vast
    stretches of empty, eroded buildings and piles of wreckage.

    Roughly 20 people were still missing, local officials said,
    some reported to be fishermen at sea when disaster hit.

    Relief agencies said the next challenge would be reaching
    isolated hamlets, some accessible only by helicopter but some
    residents complained they were desperate and aid was too slow.

    Interim President Valentin Paniagua declared a state of
    emergency on Sunday for the entire region as he visited
    several quake-hit towns, including Peru's second-largest city
    Arequipa, and Moquegua, 860 miles (1,400 km) south of Lima,
    where he said the situation was "heart-wrenching."
    In Moquegua -- which means "silent place" in the
    indigenous Quechua language -- residents stretched their hands
    out to Paniagua, begging for help against a backdrop of
    destruction.

    An estimated 80 percent of buildings in Moquegua were
    reported damaged or destroyed. Soldiers shoveled rubble while
    residents gathered their belongings. People erected makeshift
    tents and spent the bitterly cold night in parks and schools.

    Rescue workers delivered food, medicine and other aid to
    try to prevent the outbreak of disease. The Red Cross said
    international experts were arriving to assist around 800
    volunteers deliver tents and warm clothing to victims.

    But scant resources in the poor nation impeded rescue
    efforts as some towns remained without regular electricity,
    water and telephone services. In Moquegua, people lined up to
    use the few working public phones to speak to their families.

    Peru's worst quake ever in 1970 registered a magnitude of
    7.9. That killed 70,000 people and left 600,000 homeless.


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