On 15 August 2007, 23:40:58 UTC, an earthquake hit Lima, Peru. The earthquake occurred at the boundary between the Nazca and South American tectonic plates because of thrust faulting on the interface between the two plates, with the South American Plate moving up and seaward over the Nazca Plate. The magnitude of the earthquake was 7.9 M_{w .}

The earthquake caused 519 people dead, 1,366 wounded, 13,585 houses and 103 hospitals affected. According to Peruvian Government preliminary assessments, 14 hospitals and 58,581 houses had also been destroyed. The Peruvian Agency for International Cooperation (APCI), organized a donor meeting to inform about the reconstruction framework and recovery interventions in earthquake-affected areas.

Minister of Employment also informed that the Cash-for-Work Program had hired 10,400 people who are affected by the earthquake to carry out reconstruction works in their own cities in the Ica, Huancavelica and Lima regions and remarked that they will receive a salary of US $5 per day, which should be enough to meet their daily basic needs. The Minister of Employment had also committed to train about 2,000 poor young workers on different capacities related to the reconstruction of earthquake affected areas.

In my opinion, I think the government can raise awareness of such disasters to the people of the country about the warnings that could take place before an earthquake and they could install more earthquake predictors. The people of the country, after receiving announcement from the government that an earthquake is coming, should also follow the instructions and move to a safe place. Although some of them refuse to escape to a safer place as they are afraid of losing their valuables, I still think that their lives are more important than all other items.

Bibliography
Author unknown, http://www.reliefweb.int/rwarchive/rwb.nsf/db900sid/KKAA-77F8GD?OpenDocument&rc=2&emid=EQ-2007-000133-PER/ , extracted 12-02-2010

Author unknown, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6948888.stm, BBC News, extracted 13-02-2010

Degg, Martin R; Chester, David K, Seismic and volcanic hazards in Peru: changing attitudes to disaster mitigation, The Geographical Journal, 01-06-2005

Jean Luis Arce, http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1629631020070816, extracted 13-02-2010

Samir Elhawary and Gerardo Castillo, http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/download/1213.pdf , extracted 12-02-2010