Peru Earthquake Response & Recovery

At 6:34pm local time on August 15, 2007, an earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale struck in Peru.

The earthquake killed at least 519 people and destroyed close to 95,000 houses. Most of the damage was concentrated in the Department of Ica, specifically in the cities of Pisco, Chincha, and Ica. These cities were without electricity and effectively cut off from the rest of the country. Sizable chunks of the Pan-American Highway, which travels along the Peruvian coast linking the cities of Ica, Pisco, and Chincha to Lima, were destroyed during the earthquake.

CHF International responded rapidly to the emergency in Peru thanks to the generous support of the AIG Disaster Relief Fund, Johnson & Johnson, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Spanish Red Cross, the Global Literacy Program, and the U.S. Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA). By August 20, 2007, CHF’s Emergency Response Team (CERT) was on the ground, identifying those communities most in need and underserved by other responding agencies.

CHF International was able to:

• Serve approximately 10,295 beneficiaries.
• Build 700 transitional shelters, 135 latrines, 17 temporary classrooms, four community dining centers, a daycare center, and distribute 324 small business grants.
• Introduce a transitional shelter design that was adopted as standard prototype by the IFRC and used in the construction of 4,000 shelters in Peru so far.
• Train 24 community members in transitional shelter construction, individuals who have become employees of the IFRC for ongoing shelter construction.
• Build local capacity by training volunteers who participated in emergency response activities. A group of engineering student volunteers went on to create their own local NGO called PRODEISO for ongoing support in their communities.

To learn more, watch the video or download the complete report below.