'How Can We Raise Ourselves From the Rubble?'

‘How Can We Raise Ourselves From the Rubble?’

By ALEXANDER RENDEROS and T. CHRISTIAN MILLER

Feb. 15, 2001 12 AM PT

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

VERAPAZ, El Salvador —

When a terrifying earthquake leveled other villages last month, this town in El Salvador’s central region miraculously escaped serious damage. But on Wednesday, it too became the focus of relief efforts as residents salvaged lives from piles of mud brick after this shaken country’s latest temblor.

“How can we raise ourselves from the rubble? Is it possible?” asked a sobbing Mayor Pedro Pablo Maldonado, whose town was all but flattened in the quake that struck Tuesday morning.

The death toll rose to 274 in the magnitude 6.6 temblor, with 2,432 injuries and nearly 15,000 homes destroyed or damaged. All told, more than 1,100 people died in the two disasters, and hundreds of thousands of buildings were ruined.

Government officials were struggling to come up with a price tag for the two quakes, although early, unofficial estimates exceeded $1 billion. Some officials worried about the impact of last month’s massive earthquake in India, and whether aid would be sufficient to cover the costs of both disasters.

International aid officials dismissed such concerns, however, saying that sufficient money is flowing in to help both countries recover. The American Red Cross, for example, reported donations of more than $4 million for El Salvador and $7 million for India, where more than 30,000 people are believed to have died.

“Donor fatigue is not something we’re worried about,” said Chris Paladino, a spokesman for the organization. “The American people will respond, so long as they’re aware there’s a problem.”

Scenes of mourning and disaster could be seen everywhere Wednesday in the most affected regions in El Salvador’s center, especially in rural areas where help was slow to arrive.

In Verapaz and Guadalupe, two villages near the base of Chinchontepec volcano, nearly all the buildings were destroyed and thousands of people left homeless. Public funerals were the order of the day.

Father Jose Ramirez Balladares said Mass over five coffins in Verapaz’s dusty town square, where more than 300 people gathered to pay last respects. He shook his head as he considered the tragedy that had befallen the town, where 21 people died and more than 100 were injured.

“I spent the civil war here, and this is more tragic,” Balladares said. “I have been a priest for 23 years, and this is the worst tragedy I have seen.”

Many of those walking the streets in the two towns wore blank, haunted looks. Verapaz resident Guadalupe Ramirez barely seemed to notice the distant sound of a landslide as it cascaded down the side of the nearby volcano.

“We need help, please,” she said as she looked toward the coffin of her best friend. “We lost all our belongings.”

Less than a mile down the road, in Guadalupe, the situation was much the same. At least 13 people were reported dead, with 97% of the buildings destroyed. As a local priest sprinkled holy water on her mother’s coffin, Elizabeth Torres wept bitterly.

“Mother, Mother, you should have stayed with me in San Salvador,” Torres said as she flung herself over the coffin. She looked into a window cut in the top of the coffin for a final glance. “You know how much I love you.”

Special correspondent Renderos reported from Verapaz and Times staff writer Miller from Santa Rosa, Calif.

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How to Help

These agencies are among the many accepting contributions for assistance to victims of the earthquake in El Salvador.

American Red Cross

P.O. Box 97089

Washington, DC 20090-7089

(800) HELPNOW

https://www.redcross.org

CARE

6300 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1850

Los Angeles, CA 90048