# Peru



## TheLorax (Aug 16, 2007)

I went to breakfast this morning with friends and there was much talk of the earthquake that hit Peru. I suspect it's pretty bad down there what with the last few major earthquakes they've endured in the recent past. My girlfriend told me her husband (a Pastor) is going to ask the Elders of their congregation to discuss asking for donations. The Catholic Churches around here are pretty darn good about asking their parishioners for donations because I see semi trucks parked in grocery stores from time to time asking for canned good donations, clothing, and other necessities to send to disaster areas. I know our JCC will organize something. I looked at some of the photos online of the areas hardest hit and it was gut wrenching. I don't have any friends or family living in Peru but I know some people who do and they claim $10 or $20 goes a long way. 

Nothing about the most recent earthquake in Peru here yet but I suspect one can donate should one choose to do so-
http://www.redcross.org/news/in/earthquakes/0108worldwide.html


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## Candace (Aug 16, 2007)

Isn't that odd, my local newspaper ran a front page article and made it out to be not so bad. Maybe more details came in after the paper went out.


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## Heather (Aug 16, 2007)

When I had the news on this morning, one report (I think it was gov't)said 350 dead, and 1000 injured, but then 10 min. later they said they were getting conflicting reports and that the health ministry in Peru was then saying only 135 deaths, so I don't think they really knew...or know?


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## Heather (Aug 16, 2007)

I posted a "please check in" msg. this morning, btw, for our Peruvian members. We have a few, and I don't think Lance is there yet but was planning to head there soon.


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## TheLorax (Aug 16, 2007)

I heard over 300 were dead and that over a thousand were injured. Definitely not in the league of the Tsunami but a disaster nonetheless. Generally, the death toll rises as they work through the rubble. 

I don't watch tv so I don't know what's going on there. I also don't receive any newspapers. I did go online to look for information and evidently the Red Cross is there. I found photos after breakfast and it looks pretty bad-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/6949478.stm

It's a very poor country. I presume thousands will be displaced.


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## gonewild (Aug 16, 2007)

There probably is no communications from the damaged areas yet. Our news up here never talks much about what happens in Peru, good or bad.


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## bwester (Aug 16, 2007)

hope everyone is still alive.


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## Ron-NY (Aug 16, 2007)

I heard that one town is 70% destroyed. I suspect the death toll #'s will continue to rise. Last I heard the death toll was 450. In the 1970 quake there the final count was close to 5,000.

I have an e-mail out to a couple of friends in Lima, including Isaias. I did hear that a couple of buildings in downtown Lima collapsed. That is the oldest part of the city but most of the damage was 100 miles away, I also heard that the Central Highway had boulders come down on it...that is no surprise to me for some of the boulders sticking out above the road had me worried as I traveled it.


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## gonewild (Aug 16, 2007)

I just received an email from Alfredo Manrique in Lima. He and his family are all well. His plants and flasks are fine and he said they looked better today than before so perhaps they enjoyed the shake. Apparently not much damage in the greater Lima area. But he also said south of Lima is total disaster with bridges and roads collapsed.


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## SlipperFan (Aug 16, 2007)

Good news, among the bad.


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## Ron-NY (Aug 16, 2007)

I also heard back from Alfredo Manrique. He also said "damage in Lima is minimal , near the Nazca lines , towns are destroyed."


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## rdlsreno (Aug 17, 2007)

Ron-NY said:


> I also heard back from Alfredo Manrique. He also said "damage in Lima is minimal , near the Nazca lines , towns are destroyed."



That is good news! 

Ramon


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## TheLorax (Aug 17, 2007)

I am glad the member from Peru and his family are all ok. 

This is all I found-
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070817/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/peru_quake

What I find disheartening is this-


> Doctors struggled to help more than 1,500 injured, including hundreds who waited on cots in the open air, fearing more aftershocks would send the structures crashing down.



And this-


> "Our services are saturated and half of the hospital has collapsed," Dr. Huber Malma said as he single-handedly attended to dozens of patients.



Followed by this-


> The U.S. Navy hospital ship Comfort, equipped with a staff of 800 and 12 operating rooms, is in Ecuador and could quickly sail to Peru if asked, U.S. officials said.


It's day two and they've allegedly hit a death toll around 500. With one out of every four structures in the towns mentioned by Ron-NY being leveled, I suspect the death toll will rise considerably in the weeks to come. 

Not much more I can find. Seems focus is still on our six miners in Utah and the three rescue workers who just passed trying to reach them.


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## Heather (Aug 17, 2007)

The whole mine thing is a disaster. Granted, it's a tragic, but the owner, who is still trying to blame the collapse on an earthquake while seismologists say repeatedly, no (and the media) need to give it a rest. It's a hopeless effort and now more people are dying! These new three deaths didn't "pass" there was another collapse in the mine! How many more will die trying to "rescue" the alreadly dead? 

I'm sorry if this sounds crass, but after seeing "Sicko" ( a movie everyone should really see! ) and my healthcare at work going up 16% as of Aug. 1, I am a lot more crass about the state of this country and its "priorities"!


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## NYEric (Aug 17, 2007)

Communist!


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## TheLorax (Aug 17, 2007)

Evidently the area is prone to disturbances. I have no doubt OSHA is all over this. It's a travesty three have died trying to get to the other six who may very well all be dead. I can't help thinking what would I want if one of the six down there (that conceivably still could be alive) was my son, husband, father, or brother? Tough question that I hope I never have to ask myself. 

I hear you on priorities. Wait till you see what your premiums look like when you reach 50 or maybe you just did if you got an increase like that. The monthly premiums are a tough pill to swallow in my area when so many people flat out don't purchase health insurance or opt out of participating in an employee program unless it's 100% employer funded. They all get to go to the free clinics and are clogging up our ERs. I found out this year that we even have several free dental clinics for those who don't have health insurance. The malpractice suits are out of control in this state. So much so that quite a few OB-Gynes are moving their practices over the border into Wisconsin, Indiana, and Iowa. I've never even heard of the movie "Sicko". Do I really want to see it or am I already living it?


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## Ron-NY (Aug 17, 2007)

Premiums go up every year but us Healthcare providers see none of it. With managed care, I am making less now than I did 10 years ago. My malpractice ins, cost of having employees, heating and cooling costs, ect continue to rise but not fee schedules to treat the patients. There is a major problem with the healthcare system in this country!!!!!


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## DukeBoxer (Aug 17, 2007)

If anyone wants the real story on what is going on down in Peru, and you can understand spanish, then you need to watch the news on Univision or whatever cable spanish channel you have in your area. I watched a little the other night but didn't really pay much attention, I was doing other things. It's really amazing how biased the news channels are here when you start to watch news in other languages. I'll watch tonight and try to get a better grasp of what is really going on and post it here.

-Josh


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## Ron-NY (Aug 17, 2007)

I can tell you that The Pan American Highway through that region is closed secondary to land slides, road damage, bridge collapses and electric lines down. Even the Central Hwy that crosses the Andes is closed due to boulders that tumbled down the hillside into the roadway. These are the only main roads in the region. The population of Picso was 116,865, so it is not a small village.

The type of earthquake was a subduction quake (one plate riding under another). In this region the plates move 3 inches a year...this type causes great damage when it releases. Peru is earthquake prone due to this. The Andes are formed from this plate activity. 

The region is without electricity and water. 1000's are homeless and wandering the streets with what little they have been able to salvage. Thursday, in the Catholic Church, was Ascension Thursday (the day Mary was supposed to have ascended into heaven). The churches were packed. There were 200 in the church in Pisco and the church collapsed onto the congregation. This is an area with adobe homes...in Pisco 80% of these are rumble (That's 85,000 homes/ CNN).

"The dead are scattered by the dozens on the streets. We don't have lights, water, communications. Most houses have fallen. Churches, stores, hotels -- everything is destroyed," Pisco Mayor Juan Mendoza told Lima radio station CPN

The cities of Pisco, Ica and Chincha Alta in the Ica Region, and San Vicente de Cañete in the Lima Region were most affected.

This would be a good time to donate to the organizations that are supplying relief to the region. The organizations there are: Direct Relief International, Catholic Relief Services and the Red Cross. I made a donation yesterday.


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## Heather (Aug 17, 2007)

TheLorax said:


> I've never even heard of the movie "Sicko". Do I really want to see it or am I already living it?



It's the new Michael Moore film (Farenheit 911 was his last). You're already living it but I think people will only start to ACT instead of REACT if people understand what's really going on. 

My ins. premiums went up for my employer, so...trickle down.


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## TheLorax (Aug 17, 2007)

We have a traditional health care plan and pay through the nose for it so that we are in a position to choose our own health care providers but more so to ensure that our health care providers aren't in a position where the services they provide to us are limited to some ding dong at the other end of a phone flipping through a three ring binder. It's also nice to be able to get timely referrals to other health care professionals when necessary. I hate managed care but I'd hate socialized medicine even more. Hey, socialized medicine... isn't that what we sort of already have>>> I hate what WE are indirectly paying in the form of outrageous malpractice premiums and don't even want to mention what my girlfriend's premium is as an anesthesiologist. Her employer pays the premium but we all pay. I need to get off this topic. 

I sent a token amount to Red Cross. Other than that, I'll wait for the JCC to organize something. They always do. I feel for the Peruvians after seeing those photos.


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