Quake aftermath

The aftermath:
7.9 quake
At least 337 Dead and the death toll might be much higher (e.g. 300 people were in a cathedral when it collapsed)
Supposedly 70% of a port city near the epicenter was leveled


It was on the front page of nytimes.com (this photo is from nytimes.com & I will take it down if asked)

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/16/world/americas/16cnd-peru.html?ex=1187928000&en=aca5b5d5be4d63cf&ei=5070&emc=eta1

Did you know that the west coast of South America (where Peru is) is the location of 2/3 of the world's large magnitude earthquakes?
So earthquakes are nothing new for Peru- who would have guessed it? There is an annual festival to commemorate a quake in 1746 when 5,000 people died (the Miracle Christ festival), and it is custom to wear purple in the month of October to commemorate the event.

This site has a great short history of quakes in Peru:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/world/peru/history.php

Quake in Lima

Today I was in my first earthquake, just 2 hours ago in the "gringo house" in Lima. The BBC says it was a 7.5 on the Richter.
Even more amazing, the phone company finally connected the internet in the gringo house!
But back to the quake.
It was strange but not at all scary. The house suddenly started shaking & the little wooden statue of an Incan playing a flute fell to the floor. The ground in the little square in front of the house undulated ever so slightly. The local people, or at least some of them, started panicking and one of them, a little old lady, clutched Gwen's arm and started speaking Spanish at a pace that would put the micro-machine commercial guy to shame.
A half hour or so later was an after-shock, and that was less strange because it was expected.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6948888.stm
Anyhow, I'll try to fill out the story later, but for now I am heading out to drink Pisco (the local liquor, somewhere between sake & whisky) in the farewell party for a fellow gringo medical student.