Peru Residents Still Shaken by Quake

The residents of Pisco are still in shock after last Wednesday's massive earthquake which damaged or destroyed 85 percent of its buildings, and left a still-climbing death toll in the hundreds. "The pain we feel is too strong," earthquake survivor Vera Arpay said. "What happened to Pisco is a total disaster." Churches here were the hardest hit. Many were filled with worshippers when the quake struck. One collapsed church reportedly killed 200 people. "We're waiting for a relative who was at mass and the whole church fell in, and until now we haven't been able to rescue him," Angela Rodriguez said. Meanwhile, the wounded are still finding their way to makeshift hospitals. "We are still receiving patients with fractures, with multiple traumas, delicate patients," Dr. Saldarriaga said. "So what we're doing is to stabilize the patients, and if necessary, evacuate them." Quake victims with serious injuries, hundreds of them, have been airlifted from Pisco to hospitals in Lima, where they can get the care they need. Thousands of quake survivors line up daily for water and food. Some of the more desperate have mobbed arriving relief trucks. Operation Blessing was one of the first charities on the scene, providing survivors with blankets, food, medication and temporary roofs for homeless families. Jordan Durso leads the OB team in Peru's earthquake zone. Meanwhile, in Pisco the search continues for those who did not survive. "Some places we recover 10, 15. In others we recover one. Here we're recovering a body. We're on the first floor, with three other floors that have crushed it to a depth of two or one and a half meters," Alfonso Panizco said. To speed up the work, volunteers push a camera probe into small open spaces in the rubble. As recovered bodies are brought to Pisco's plazas, grieving relatives attempt to identify their missing loved ones. Salvation Army volunteers do what they can to help. "We've been helping here in the ruins, identifying the bodies," Luis Pena said. "We've given spiritual support to people identifying the bodies, and trying to pray for them." Peru's president has promised to rebuild the city of Pisco, but many residents who have lost their loved ones, their homes, and their incomes find it hard to believe that life will ever return to normal.