 |
| The country's ambassador
to London has appealed for help |
| 1972: Earthquake wreaks devastation in
Nicaragua |
England have
Ten thousand people are feared dead after a two-hour earthquake ripped
through the Nicaraguan capital of Managua.
Initial reports suggest whole communities have been wiped out as an
estimated 80% of buildings have been flattened with little hope of finding
survivors.
The earthquake which reached 6.5 on the Richter Scale has sparked huge
fires causing fears those who survived the initial attack may not escape
the flames.
Nicaragua was struck at 1240 local time when all electricity and water
supplies to the country were cut.
Telegraph and telephone links have also been severed.
Aid workers are trying to clear the area to prevent the spread of
diseases such as typhoid so that experts can search for survivors and get
food and water to the hundreds now homeless.
Among the ruins and rubble are two of the city's three main hospitals.
Relief workers at the scene are trying to bury the dead in makeshift
graves to curb a growing stench.
An evacuation order has been placed on the city and authorities are
expected to close off the area while a clean-up operation takes place.
The city is still affected by occasional tremors, and cracks in the
road are hampering emergency relief efforts.
Officials have said they need medical aid and anaesthetic more than
anything else at present.
The United States, Mexico and neighbouring countries to Nicaragua are
preparing to send aid, food and medicine.
The capital city is above a geological fault which has made it
susceptible to tremors and earthquakes.
Managua has twice been destroyed in earthquakes in 76 years, leading to
speculation the country may have to move its capital.
Parts of the country have already suffered the worst drought of the
century this year.
And the partial failure of the cotton crop, which with coffee is the
staple of the Nicaraguan economy, has led to unemployment and
poverty.
