We survived the Earthquake in Paita, Peru, 2010

by David and Lin Schneider
(Los Organos, Peru)

We were sleeping the Las Brisas Hotel in Paita last Saturday night.

My wife, Lin, and I were awakened by a jolt and swaying of the building for a few seconds. Lin said, "Earthquake." I said, "Five point oh."

Then we drifted off again.

The next day Lin checked the internet and said, "Four point two." Why was I off?

Well, it was only 15 kilometers away and not very deep. Having gone through a lot of quakes in Hawaii, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and California, I know that if an earthquake is less than five it is not likely to wake you up.

But the unusual closeness to the epicenter was the reason.

Good story, eh? I'm going to have to print up some tee shirts...