The district pastor of the Church of God in Ica, Peru gave us the following information:
The epicenter [of the earthquake] was in Pisco, mainly affecting the towns of Pisco, Cañete, Chincha and the city of Ica (where a Catholic church caved in). The home of the district pastor was left uninhabitable. He and his family are sleeping in the streets. Over 100 members of his church had their houses destroyed or damaged to the point of being uninhabitable. They are all sleeping outside.
The district church was severely damaged along with the churches in Pisco, Cañete and Arenal. Each of these churches has an average of 20 to 30 members who were left homeless.
The present death toll is over 500, with over 1,500 wounded or missing. We have experienced over 470 aftershocks, several 5.5-6.0 on the Richter scale.
Dario Lopez, one of our ministers in Peru, reports:
Since the earthquake, it has been calculated that about 45,000 homes were destroyed and there are over 500,000 victims. We fear these numbers will increase as they advance in the removal of debris.
Peruvian Earthquake Relief Fund
Project Number 765-0036-001 [1]
. . . . .
© 2007 Church of God World Missions [2]