Living in Peru : your everyday companion

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz


According to a correspondent for Peru's El Comercio daily, it has not been reported that any Peruvians were killed in the 7.9-magnitude earthquake that destroyed a region of small cities and towns north of the provincial capital of Sichuan in China.

Patricia Castro Obando, who is reporting from Beijing - 1545 km (960 miles) northeast of the epicenter - confirmed that it had not officially been reported that there were any Peruvian deaths among the 8,700 people that have died and over 10,000 that were injured.

Furthermore, Castro Obando reported, "according to the Peruvian consulate in Beijing, there aren't any Peruvians in Sichuan, the province where the epicenter was located. Despite this, we know there is a Peruvian, Juan Cárdenas, who has lived in the region for eight years."

El Comercio's correspondent made an effort to get in touch with Cárdenas but has not been able to do so.

"We haven't been able to get in touch with him. I have his cellular phone number but it's disconnected. It is believed that he went on a trip to the mountains," said Castro Obando.

At 2:28 p.m. (1:28 a.m. - Lima) the 7.9-magnitude earthquake toppled buildings, schools and a chemical plant, killing almost 9,000 people and trapping many others under massive amounts of concrete, steel and earth.

It has been labeled as the worst earthquake in three decades.