Since Saturday, April 16th, Ecuadorians in the northwestern corner of the country have been struggling to uncover bodies from beneath the rubble left behind after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake. Almost 200 people still remain missing and over 7,000 are injured. A series of lesser quakes and aftershocks hit throughout the week, raising the death toll to at least 570 victims. Adding to the destruction, a six-magnitude earthquake hit almost a week later, just west of where the first took place.
Strangely, 9,590 miles away, Japan experienced a 7.0 magnitude earthquake last Saturday as well and many experts insist they were unrelated, though it is too early to tell. Both countries are located in what the National Geographic Society calls the Ring of Fire, “a string of volcanoes and sites of seismic activity, or earthquakes, around the edges of the Pacific Ocean” but it’s rare that earthquakes are connected from across the ocean. Around 40 people were killed with just under a thousand injured in Japan.
Ecuador’s economy was struggling through a deep recession before the earthquake hit and now President Rafael Correa has estimated two to three billion dollars worth of damages. “The short-term costs are significant,” he announced, and will therefore temporarily increase sales taxes, sell government assets, and possibly issue international bonds. Unfortunately, beautiful tourist areas such as the coastal city of Pedernales were among the hardest hit, which increases the blow to the economy.
Responding to complaints about aid operations, President Correa explained that distribution of supplies has been a problem. Roadways have been destroyed making it difficult to reach rural areas where people are going without food. The news has reported people chanting “we need food” and holding signs begging for help. Mosquito nets have become a huge necessity as well. The insects already plagued the country but increased pools of stagnant water have become breeding grounds.
I became attached to this developing crisis when my boyfriend began to receive floods of pictures and messages from his family in Ecuador. They live in Guayaquil, south of where the first quake hit and thankfully sustained minimal damage until Friday. Nonetheless, his father described coming home to his antiques destroyed as a result of the tremors in their area. His cousin messaged him saying that victims were desperately in need of sleeping bags because thousands were left homeless, including many children who are now orphans. This particularly resonated with me because I cannot fathom what it must be like to be desperate for something as seemingly trivial as a sleeping bag. I had one lying practically brand new in my closet, but to imagine having to shelter myself from the blazing sun and elements and mosquitoes because my home has crumbled to the ground? I immediately became aware of my privilege and knew someone needed that sleeping bag more than I did. On Thursday, my boyfriend’s sister and I went to one of the many Envios Espinosa locations in Suffolk County that were collecting items to ship to Ecuador. All we had to do was drop the supplies off and they took care of the shipping. Besides several sleeping bags, our donation included blankets, soap, feminine products, first aid supplies, baby food, and mosquito repellent. She had heard stories of the search dog’s paws being cut up after days of working to uncover bodies so of course gauze and medical wrap were at the top of our list, too.
What really struck me was that I did not hear more about this in the mainstream media and certainly even less about efforts to help. Many of the stories I have read are still unclear and coincide, especially about the latest quake. I also read that the U.S. Army offered to aid in Japan’s recovery process after their earthquake Saturday. As a privileged world superpower, is it not our duty to be modern day superheroes and step up to the aid of all human beings experiencing tragedy, without partiality?