Terry and Janet

Terry and Janet

Monday, July 25, 2011

Was that a Tremor?

We have been in Chimbote for the past 4 days.
We were excited to stay in a new
little hotel that is very small,
and very quiet.

Remember we have been dealing with our alarm
system going off in the middle of the night at the mission home.
President Turk finally just cut the wires after the 
fourth time in a row.
(FYI - they have fixed the whole system now)

So, our first night in the hotel room, we had fallen to sleep soundly
and the TV came blasting on at 4:00 am.

We both sat straight up in the bed and said "not really"
Someone had set the alarm on the TV
and didn't take it off.

The next day we were winding down in our room
and we felt something strange.
We were on the third floor of this hotel
and it sounded and felt like a huge herd of cattle
were running underneath our hotel.

It didn't last very long, but we both new what it was.
When we were with President Mendes the next day,
I asked if anyone felt an earthquake tremor
and he said YES, there was one.

I then started asking him all about big earthquakes
here in Peru.  He told me that there was one in 1970 near Chimbote.
In fact, he was a baby and can't remember it
but it took the life of his 4 year old brother.
A wall fell on him as they were trying to get out of the house.

Well, I couldn't believe this.
It was my first time I have felt anything like this.
I am from Arizona.  We have experienced a few dust storms.
But that is about it.
I have really been sheltered.