Peru Earthquake Project
Impact of the Earthquake
Normally constructed of stone and sun-dried bricks, village houses were especially vulnerable to collapse.
On August 15th, 2007, a region 200 km south of Lima, Peru was shaken by a very strong earthquake that reached 7.9 degrees on the Richter Scale. The natural disaster destroyed most sun-dried brick houses (the typical housing in the region) leaving 500 dead, 2000 injured and 100,000 people homeless. While the areas most affected are the coastal cities around Pisco and Cañete, the nearby Andean valleys were also partly destroyed.
The local housing has a series of deficiencies that made it especially vulnerable, such as low-resistant materials, no anti-seismic strengthening structures, poor walls and roofs. Poor or no maintenance further aggravates the situation.
Any aid from the major private institutions and the Peruvian government for reconstruction was prioritized in the densely populated coastal towns, far from the small Andean communities like Chocos.