An Account of the Earthquake in Peru

By the Columban Sisters in Ica

Sisters Brigid Sullivan (left) and Eileen Rabbitte pictured with a sample of the  provisional housing provided for the earthquake victims.

It was 6:40 pm on Wednesday, August 15, the Feast of the Assumption. Brigid and I were in

the kitchen having our tea.  Suddenly a terrible shake and the lights went out. We went to the garden and it lasted for about three minutes at an intensity of 7.9 as we now know.  Finally it stopped and we yelled down to Lisset, our secretary who was working in a room at the end of the corridor, and she said,” I am alright. I am here.” We hugged each other as we tried to  call Lisset´s mother who at the same times was trying to call us. Finally she and her little son came to the door and we were so relieved that they were together. We were frightened. Everyone was frightened. Our neighbor’s house was down. We thought of bringing them into the hall but they had to stay and mind their belongings. It was a long night and all was darkness with occasional tremors.

            It was only next morning when we went out that we saw the extent of the damage: We walked around the barrio and saw for ourselves what have been homes over the past several years, was only so much rubble. The people were sitting in the midst of it and saying, “Thank God we are alive.”  Some people like our neighbor Angel, were trying to gather up the mud bricks and bits and pieces that had been their homes, and yet were able to say “Thank God we are alive.” A few houses further on we found that the 28 year-old mother of two children had died in the rubble of her family room. The people got her out alive but she died in the hospital. Alfredo, her husband, was in Nazca, two hours south. He finally got home and got on with waking and burying his wife.

            We continued walking and finding more and more of the same - rubble, rubble and more rubble. But the faith and strength of the people as they gathered up what they could rescue hit us between the eyes. It was all unbelievable, shocking really. A little girl was sitting in the midst of the chaos of what was once her little home, with her injured leg stretched out in front of her. Any mother knows well how that little girl’s mother was feeling. She finally did get to the hospital. We continued on our tour and saw more of the same, rubble, the people trying as best they could to put some shape on what was left of their homes.

 We finally got to our chapel, recently constructed with bricks and cement, so it survived. The only casualty was the statue of San Martin. A group of youth joined us, and like their elders, they were so thankful to God that they had survived. They asked us to pray and we did right there in the midst of the sand.  With their help we cleaned our chapel.

Then Brigid and I went into Ica to visit the Regional hospital where we both do pastoral work. That was totally unbelievable. The Emergency Area was full to overflowing. The main building of the hospital had been evacuated and the patients were being cared for in tents and in a big hall that was in good shape. There were many doctors, nurses and other technical staff from Lima and other places.

            From there we went around Ica and it was truly frightening. Everywhere buildings were in rubble or with huge cracks.  We went by the church of the Lord of Luren and that was just another shocking sight to add to what we had already seen. Then we heard that in the city of Pisco, about an hour to the north of Ica, two French Sisters of Charity had lost their lives when their church collapsed in the earthquake.

Seventy per cent or more of the homes in San Martin, were we work, are uninhabitable. We began calling our most trusted friends and neighbors to hear from them what the most urgent need was.  They told us food and shelter as they were all sleeping in the open air and the cold in the desert is severe at night. We organized them according to blocks and at the second meeting we settled on bamboo matting to make provisional housing. However, there was no bamboo matting available in Ica. Then we brought that information to the people and they decided on plywood, which is a bit better. With the help of the many donations that we have received, we have been able to buy plywood and bamboo matting in Lima and a local parish has given us the use of a truck to transport the building supplies to us here in San Martin.

Food of course is the other top priority. There are three or four soup kitchens functioning with some help from the state. We have 12 groups of about 10-12 families cooking in what they call a common pot, and the number of groups keeps growing. We want more of that kind working together. All in all we are totally impressed and edified by the faith and resilience of the people who have lost everything and still keep going and looking out for the extreme cases of poverty.

            We are most grateful to the many people who have called and offered their help and solidarity. It means a whole lot to us at this time. Without your generous support we would not be able to help the people, and we want to thank you for making it possible for us to do that. We know that we can count on your prayers to help us respond in the way that is most helpful for the people. This has been a severe earthquake but if it had happened in the middle of the night we would have had thousands dead. So thank God for small mercies.

Eileen Rabbitte and Brigid Sullivan