EL SALVADOR/GUATEMALA: SEARCH FOR SURVIVORS CONTINUES AFTER EARTHQUAKE OF 7.6 MAGNITUDE KILLS MORE THAN 60 PEOPLE

Record ID: 643525

  • Title: EL SALVADOR/GUATEMALA: SEARCH FOR SURVIVORS CONTINUES AFTER EARTHQUAKE OF 7.6 MAGNITUDE KILLS MORE THAN 60 PEOPLE
  • Date: 13th January 2001
  • Summary: SANTA TECLA, EL SALVADOR (JANUARY 14, 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) NIGHT SHOTS 1. HAS RESCUE EFFORTS (2 SHOTS) 0.12 2. VARIOUS OF EXCAVATIONS, WORKERS DIGGING, HEAVY MACHINERY ON SITE (3 SHOTS) 0.29 3. ZOOM IN YOUNG WOMAN STANDING NEXT TO MILITARY 0.36 4. MV EXCAVATION, MEN DIGGIBG 0.43 5. SV WORKERS CARRY BODY AWAY 0.57 6. GENERAL VIEW OF DEVASTATION, PUSH IN UNIDENTIFIED PRIEST 1.07 7. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PRIEST SAYING: "We are talking about families, lives that have been destroyed. This is incredible. There were homes here, and now, in some places, you can't even see roof tops." 1.22 8. SV/CU WORKERS CLEARING DEBRIS AWAY WITH SEASAW 1.33 9. GV HEAVY MACHINERY ON SITE, WORKERS DIGGING 1.42 10. HAS/SV WORKERS REMOVING BODIES 1.57 11. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) UNIDENTIFIED WORKER SAYING: "The quake was the will of God but all of this debris, all of these people buried alive here, that was because of the greedy will by rich people to build more and more homes in this area." 2.12 12. HAS RESIDENTS WALKING AROUND AREA 2.20 13. PAN DESTROYED HOME 2.27 14. HAS/SLV WORKERS DIGGING, TRUCK CLEARING DEBRIS (2 SHOTS) 2.47 15. SLV/CU RESIDENTS IN MAKESHIFT SHELTER AREA (2 SHOTS) 3.02 SAN TECLA, SUBURB OF SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR (JANUARY 13, 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) DAY SHOTS 16. GV SITE OF THE EARTHQUAKE, DESTRUCTION 3.05 17. MV PEOPLE DIGGING 3.11 18. SV DEAD BODIES, CU THEIR FEET (2 SHOTS) 3.22 19. SV INJURED BEING CARRIED AWAY ON STRETCHER 3.33 20. MV PEOPLE DIGGING THROUGH RUBBLE 3.37 21. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FRANCISCO FLORES, PRESIDENT OF EL SALVADOR SAYING: "We have declared a national emergency. This will help with logistics and resources needed to deal with this crisis. The priority is in the southern part of Santa Tecla and the area of Berlin which has been greatly affected. We have heard there could be people still buried in this area due to the collapse of the cathedral." 4.56 22. SV/ HAS CRASHED CAR, DAMAGE, RED CROSS WORKER SEARCHING FOR BODIES (2 SHOTS) 3.55 23. SV WOMAN CRYING 3.59 24. GV, MV PEOPLE TAKING FURNITURE FROM COLLAPSED HOUSE (2 SHOTS) 4.07 25. VARIOUS OF PATIENTS BEING EVACUATED FROM HOSPITAL BUILDING DAMAGED BY THE QUAKE (5 SHOTS) 4.26 26. MV PRESIDENTIAL VEHICLE ARRIVING AT EMERGENCY CENTRE 4.33 27. PRESIDENT FRANCISCO FLORES GETTING OUT OF VEHICLE 28. GV PRESIDENT MEETING WITH EMERGENCY OFFICIALS 4.43 29. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FRANCISCO FLORES, PRESIDENT OF EL SALVADOR SAYING: "We have declared a national emergency. This will help with logistics and resources needed to deal with this crisis. The priority is in the southern part of Santa Tecla and the area of Berlin which has been greatly affected. We have heard there could be people still buried in this area due to the collapse of the cathedral." 4.56 30. WIDE OF MEETING 5.04 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 28th January 2001 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: SANTA TECLA, SAN TECLA, EL SALVADOR
  • Country: El Salvador
  • Reuters ID: LVA5GXTOQYI5FTEADR4XL6OPM8UU
  • Story Text: Rescue workers have continued the search for survivors
    after an earthquake of 7.6 magnitude left more than 60 people
    dead and hundreds missing in El Salvador and Guatemala.



    The Red Cross in El Salvador said 61 people had been
    confirmed dead, while officials in Guatemala reported another
    two fatalities.

    The Red Cross said 200 people had been injured and 1,200
    were missing in El Salvador alone. At least 1,000 died in a
    1986 earthquake in El Salvador.

    The quake cut electrical power across the country and
    forced the closure of the international airport, hampering
    efforts to bring in relief supplies.

    The United States Geological Survey said the quake's
    epicentre was about 65 miles (105 km) southeast of El
    Salvador's capital, San Salvador, off the Pacific coast.

    The 7.6 magnitude quake occurred at 11:34 a.m. (1734 GMT)
    on Saturday (January 13) and was felt across El Salvador,
    Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras and as far north as Mexico
    City.

    The middle-class San Salvador suburb of Santa Tecla and
    the Pacific coast province of La Libertad were hard hit.

    In Santa Tecla, weeping survivors searched for loved ones
    after a hillside collapsed on as many as 500 homes.

    "We are talking about families, lives that have been
    destroyed. This is incredible. There were homes here and
    now, in some places, you can't even see roof tops," a priest
    present at the site said.

    Hundreds of emergency workers and volunteers worked
    alongside huge cranes to shovel dirt from around collapsed
    homes in a sea of mud, tree limbs and rubble.

    Local police Chief Mauricio Sandoval told television news
    that some 800 people were missing in one neighborhood.

    At least 18 bodies had been recovered, and officials
    expected more to be found.

    Doctors at San Salvador's Rosales Hospital, said patients
    were brought in with multiple fractures, many from Santa
    Tecla. Others were flown in by helicopter from the provinces.

    The hospital treated an overflow of injured in tents set up on
    its grounds.

    Rescue workers said 25 people also were buried under
    fallen homes in Comasagua in La Libertad.

    President Francisco Flores declared a national state of
    emergency and took personal control of an emergency operations
    centre.





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