The Death Toll and Devastation Continue to Increase

Latest updates as reported by Reuters News Agency and the BBC indicate that over 450 Peruvian's have lost their lives in the tragic magnitude-8 earthquake. The quake has devastated Southern cities on the coast - cities who have a primary construction material of adobe and brick.

It has been reported that survivors wearing blankets against the winter cold walked like ghosts through the ruins. The United Nations reports that dozens of bodies lay beneath bloodstained sheets at damaged hospitals where doctors are struggling to help more than 1,500 injured victims of crush injuries and quake related trauma. Reports from the Forbes Website indicate that hundreds of patients are being "staged" on cots and in walkways outside the hospitals in the coastal cities, fearing more aftershocks would send the structures crashing down.

The center of the destruction was in Peru's southern desert - specifically in the oasis city of Ica (a community where Union Biblica del Peru has a orphanage and mission camp). The coastal port of Pisco, about 125 miles southeast of the capital, Lima, was also strongly impacted by the quake and the after tremors. Humanitarian relief and aid is being carried out by OxFam, the International Red Cross and the Peruvian Governments Disaster Relief Teams. Physicians, nurses and health care professionals have been bused to the southern cities of Ica and Pisco to help with patient care and community stabilization.

It is not known at this time how many lives have been lost in this tragic event - but one thing is certain, the people of Peru need our warm wishes and prayers . . . now more than ever.