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Thursday, 18 January, 2001, 11:44 GMT
Your experiences of the El Salvador quake
Aftershocks have spread further panic through El Salvador as rescuers spent a second night frantically digging for survivors of the earthquake which shook Central America on Saturday.
The number known to have been killed in the disaster has risen to more than 400, hundreds more remain buried and hopes are fading of finding any more survivors.
If you are in the region, do you have any information you would like to pass on? Email to tell us what is happening where you are.
This debate is now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.
I would just like to say that we all do take a lot for granted and tend to say that nothing like this could happen here. Unfortunately, it did and it is horrific to think of the damage that it has caused to the buildings, the families and especially the children who still are confused. It will take a long time for people to come to terms with what has happened. The thoughts that are in my mind and many others is that this could happen again at a split second. I'm lucky that I survived this time but next time I could be too close to do anything.
Simon Eisenhut, El Salvador
I was unfortunate to be in the middle of the Los Angeles Northridge earthquake on January 17th 1994 at 4.31am (which is seven years ago tomorrow and a day that I shall never forget). I have never experienced fear like it and was lucky not to have been killed as my apartment collapsed around me. My thoughts and prayers are with those who have suffered and I know what the survivors are going through. What most people do not realise, is the abject fear and torture experienced by continuous and constant nerve wrecking aftershocks, which are equally as scary. Your nerves just go and you wish you could be anywhere else in the world other than where you are, but unfortunately, there is just no way out! As always it is the children who suffer the most. So consider yourself very lucky not to be in El Salvador at the moment and spare a thought for all who are trapped there.
Oscar Sermeņo, Montreal, Canada
My heart goes out to all affected. I really do understand what you're going through. It brings it all back to me. Glad to know all well at British School where I taught from Jan.'83-Dec.86, experiencing the last big earthquake. Please give my best to any who remember me and my love and thoughts especially to Bessy de Hercules.
Isis Jimenez, Canada
I've been living in Chiapas for about 7 years now and we are in a zone criss-crossed by faults, We experience tremors every day but most of them are undetectable. On Saturday I felt the tremor for about 30 seconds, my chair wobbling back and forth and the door swaying. We're about 400km from the epicentre so it wasn't too bad. Here in Chiapas, Mexico and other parts of Central America people suffer disasters all the time which are becoming more and more frequent and accentuated due to the severe environmental degradation/ destruction e.g deforestation.
Many people, especially indigenous peoples face tragedy day to day, malnutrition, extreme poverty, the list goes on. These are unseen "man-made disasters" which barely make the news. Most "natural disasters" are to an extent "man-made". If people didn't live in such precarious conditions trying to fight against poverty then disasters such as earthquakes and floods would take a lesser toll. This earthquake is a huge blow for the people of El Salvador. Please help in any way you can in England or in other parts of the world
Greg Macklin, England
Anyone concerned about the British people working at the British School here in Santa Tecla can rest easily, we're all fine. Although all of us are unnerved by what has happened we have all been into work today to clean up the mess and find out what will happen this week. There's been some structural damage to our auditorium but most of the classroom are okay, just fallen ceiling tiles and fans. We can actually see the top of the landslide from the school.
All of us have donated money, food and clothing for those who have been displaced. So far we have had no reports of any students being injured, and only a couple of staff have lost friends in the disaster. We can only carry on as best we can and thank God that it didn't happen a day earlier, as all the students would have been at school and the auditorium would have been full.
I have relatives in Nicaragua. Does anyone have any idea when the tidal wave will hit? I especially need to know news about a place on the coast called Bluefields. Please, if anyone has any information, could they contact me as soon as possible?
Saturday morning, just before noon, I was out running errands on my bike, when I entered a store and the man said, "Didn't you feel the tremors? We all ran outside!" I hadn't felt a thing!
15 Jan 01 | Americas
'Miracle' amid Salvador devastation
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