EARTHQUAKE IN ECUADOR-by María Lope

I have heard with sadness the news about an earthquake in Ecuador. It is always the same pattern: poor countries suffer the devastating effects of natural disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, tornadoes,…

Natural disasters are aggravated by the poor living conditions of the people: low quality housing, lack of roads, few hospitals, and incompetent administrators and politicians.

The earthquake took place on April 16 and there were a lot of aftershocks, more than 710, some of them were very strong and some weren’t. There can be more aftershocks, in fact there was one of intensity 6,3 in Richter scale.

There are more than 585 people dead, 8.340 people were injured, and 155 people disappeared. That’s because the earthquake was very strong and Ecuador is a very poor country and they don’t have buildings prepared against earthquakes. Also, the disaster took place in the poorest parts of the country.

They are going to work a lot to repair the buildings and roads. They will have to increase the taxes, but they are already poor people. They need help from the international community.