House falls in earthquake
What were you doing during the earthquake? That’s the question everyone has been asking their friends and family since Sunday morning when Belize felt the effects of an earthquake centered near San Pedro Sula, Honduras. According to the Meteorological and Geology Departments the quake which registered 6.6 on the Richter Scale was felt strongest in the Toledo and Stann Creek Districts. There was an aftershock around four p.m. which was not as strong. Damage reports have ranged from large cracks in public buildings to broken glass. But a few houses in Belize that were balancing on stacked cement blocks and older wooden houses on rotting stilt actually fell down. One of these houses, which came crashing down Saturday morning, was at 114 Cemetary Road. The family inside was not injured but they have been dealt an equally harsh blow by the criminal element of the city making their disaster recovery all the more difficult.
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
The one storey four bedroom house first shook and then came tumbling to the ground. Inside were four children and nine adults. According to Sophia Betancourt everything happened so fast that not until the dust had settled that she realized the full extent of the damage.
Sophia Betancourt, House Owner
“Well all of us were sleeping and then the kids were up already. I just felt a little shake, so I thought it was the kids playing in the house you know so when I do get up that was when the house was already coming down. I was frightened cause I even screamed out and the house was down on the ground but none of we got hurt. Only the kids got some bruise.”
“I no remember how I feel but I was frightened you know cause I wanted to know how the house the come down. The when we conscious the when the police and the fireman they got here I conscious what really went on.”
The house was completely destroyed and they were forced to stay with friends. This morning when the family returned to collect their household items they received another devastating blow, most of their belongings had been stolen.
Sophia Betancourt
“Last night it looks like they came into the house and stole the T.V, two beds, plates, cups everything. The stove, the table, the chair. Everything they gone with.”
Only two beds were left behind. According to Betancourt, Remijio Montejo, the area representative has promised to find the family a house to stay in for three months.
Other countries, which felt the effects of the quake, were Honduras and parts of Guatemala. People as far north as Villahermosa, Mexico also reporting feeling tremors.
