Peru Earthquake
What's Happening and What You Can Do
At least 17,000 people
have been displaced by the massive earthquake that struck along Peru's
Pacific coast Wednesday evening. Many of the hardest hit areas, where
as much as 80 percent of housing has been destroyed, were struggling to
meet their basic needs even before the earthquake.
Discover OneWorld partners assisting the affected villages, or bookmark
OneWorld's Peru page to stay up to date with the latest stories from the
region.
OneWorld's Latest News from Peru
OneWorld's Country Guide: Peru
OneWorld's Perspectives Magazine: Dealing with Disasters
GlobalGiving Projects Helping Earthquake Victims
InterAction
Members Respond to the Earthquake in Peru
Network
for Good: Help Peru Earthquake Victims
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CHF International
As the death toll continues
to rise following a magnitude 7.9 earthquake along the southern coast
of Peru, 160 kilometers southeast of Lima, the CHF International Emergency
Response Team (CERT) has mobilized to provide immediate humanitarian and
emergency relief to survivors of the quake. The CERT team will assess
how best to immediately assist the more than 17,000 men, women and children
who have been displaced by the disaster. According to the UN Office for
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Peruvian Government has declared
a state of emergency in the Department of Ica and Cañete province.
Prior to the earthquake,
CHF International had been working for several years in Cajamarca, a
mining town northeast of Lima, and the second poorest city in Peru,
to improve the living conditions of the indigenous population in the
city. While poverty in Peru exceeds 50 percent, that percentage soars
to 70 percent for indigenous peoples of Peru. CHF International established
PROGRESO, a financially sustainable microfinance institution which provided
progressive housing loans and technical assistance to low-income residents
in Cajamarca.
CHF International
is a leading agency in immediate emergency response and transition,
rapidly mobilizing staff to assess needs and damage, and designing both
immediate and long-term recovery programs in response to the identified
needs of affected communities.
Support CHF International's efforts.
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Lutheran World Relief
Aftershocks continued Thursday
— 350 of them by mid-afternoon — throughout the area, as rescue workers
pulled people from the rubble and hospitals were overwhelmed beyond capacity
with injured survivors. As many as 70,000 homes
may have been damaged or destroyed, and damage to roads and bridges made
getting vital supplies to survivors an even greater challenge, with some
areas accessible only by helicopter.
Lutheran World Relief plans to respond to the Peru disaster through its
partners in Action by Churches Together (ACT) International, a global
alliance of faith-based aid agencies. LWR staff and other ACT members
in Peru are currently assessing the needs and will quickly determine details
of the response. The most urgent needs likely to be covered in the LWR-ACT
response include potable water; tents; blankets; food; medications such
as tetanus vaccine, antibiotics and painkillers; and tools such as wheelbarrows
and pickaxes to help clear rubble from roadways....
Support LWR's efforts.
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MADRE
“I opened the door to my
house to rescue my children, and the walls caved in, crushing all of them.”
Among the towns nearest the epicenter are Chincha Alta and Cañete, where
MADRE’s partner LUNDU works with Afro-Peruvian young people, women and
families who were struggling to meet their basic needs even before last
night’s earthquake. Those families are now homeless, hungry, and without
protection from the weather. When
we spoke with Mónica Carrillo, LUNDU’s Director, this morning she asked
for immediate help. She told us that some families suffered the horrors
of watching everything crumble around them. As parents opened the door
of their house to rescue their children, the walls collapsed. This is
a serious emergency....
Support MADRE's efforts.
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Mercy Corps
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As
relief teams rush to reach survivors in earthquake-stricken coastal
areas of Peru, Mercy Corps is joining with Partners of the Americas
to meet the urgent needs of affected families.
Right now,
Partners emergency workers are on the ground in Peru helping secure
and distribute shelter materials, water purification tablets, tents,
tools, first-aid kits and other humanitarian items needed for families
trying to recover from the largest earthquake to hit their country in
decades.
Your help is needed
to rush much-needed relief to families whose homes have been destroyed
and lives upended by the quake.
Support Mercy Corp's efforts.
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Oxfam America
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Oxfam was on the scene within hours, and the damage is enormous.
We need your help to mount a major response. We are focusing our efforts
on those most vulnerable and hardest to reach - the rural poor who have
been cut off from aid by impassable highways, collapsed bridges, and
power outages that have plunged entire cities and towns into darkness.
Oxfam has set up a special
funding stream, the Peru Earthquake Relief and Recovery Fund, to channel
resources directly to this relief effort. The
reports coming in from our staff in Peru have been disturbing:
- In the city of Pisco, more
than 70% of the buildings have been reduced to rubble.
- Many are still trapped in the debris, but rescue vehicles are having
trouble reaching them because the main bridge to the region was destroyed
in the quake.
- The central cathedral in the city collapsed with hundreds of people
inside.
- Scores of aftershocks have continued to shake the region and impede
rescue efforts.
Oxfam's major concern right now is about the health and safety
of survivors. Our main focus will be on providing clean water, sanitation,
and shelter, particularly to the rural areas that have been largely
overlooked by the media and authorities.
Support Oxfam America's efforts.
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OneWorld's Latest News from Peru
OneWorld's Country Guide: Peru
OneWorld's Perspectives Magazine: Dealing with Disasters
GlobalGiving Projects Helping Earthquake Victims
InterAction
Members Respond to the Earthquake in Peru
Network
for Good: Help Peru Earthquake Victims
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