With the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, you will learn even better how to read events so that they have a salvific, liberating, sanctifying, and hopeful ending. It is your mission to be a visible sign in the world that everything can be seen with the eyes of faith and love.”
—Lectio Divina, el sábado 12 de julio
The day after my last update was one of the most exciting I’ve had in my eight years in Antigua, not exciting in a thrilling adventure kind of way, but exciting in not-knowing-how-the-next-24-48-72-hours-would-play-out kinda way.
On Tuesday, we had two major earthquakes, a 5.2 and 5.7, and several hundred that followed over the next few days, in what is known as a seismic swarm. The epicenters of the big ones were in Escuintla about 25 miles away from Antigua.
During both of the big ones I was in Spanish class in Antigua. I wasn’t super worried during the first one because I’d experienced big ones here before, especially in 2018 right after the Fuego eruption. We resumed class after a few minutes of standing in the courtyard and under the strongest parts of the courtyard walls.
The second one came with more force and more fear amongst the teachers in the Spanish school. They cancelled class for the rest of the day, and I wandered outside not quite sure where to go and what to do next.
Everyone was either looking at their phone or looking around, and everyone was in the streets or wide open spaces outside of the buildings. Waiting.
I walked past worried faces (mostly locals) and people who didn’t seem concerned at all (mostly extranjeros). One by one emergency vehicles flew past with lights and sirens, both to alert the community of the seismic activity and to respond to urgent medical situations caused by the quakes.
Several Guatemalan friends reached out immediately to ask if I was safe and to make sure I wasn’t alone. They suggested I go back to my apartment and get anything necessary, unsure how the next hours would play out.
I walked back to my apartment and asked the doorman what the plan was if we had more strong quakes. “Oh we will be fine,” he said. “The building is strong. And, if it gets worse, just come to the center courtyard/parking area.”
I still wasn’t that worried, but I heeded my friend’s advice and grabbed my passport and marriage license, computer and external battery, and more water and snacks for my backpack.
A small group arrived for a Vision Trip with GRACES that afternoon, and I went to meet them at their hotel. We ate dinner by candlelight because of the loss of power in various parts of town. I did my best to reassure them of our safety and asked for their flexibility and patience as the next days unfolded.
One by one, notifications flowed in. The entry/exit to Antigua, closed. Schools, closed. Businesses told to work from home. Museums and cultural activities, closed. Volcano hiking, prohibited.
When we have a group here and there is a natural disaster (like last year’s heavy rains that closed schools for two days), we get to re-plan the whole experience for the visitors. Late nights of reimagining their schedule and their experience of Guatemala when nothing they planned to do is possible is a challenge unique unto itself. And by morning, we had to make yet another plan.
The quakes continued overnight with several big aftershocks. I laid in bed wide awake watching the ceiling move side to side and back again at 9:53 p.m., 11:29 p.m. 12:13 a.m., 12:32 a.m., 12:46 a.m., and so on. It was around this time of the morning that everyone was awake, texting and calling each other with a bit more anxiety.
I packed my 72-hour bag with the essentials – contact solution, toothpaste/toothbrush, deodorant, first aid kit, an extra pair of clothes, passport, etc. Up to that time overnight, I didn’t think it was necessary. But everyone was up, and everyone was a bit more nervous. Was one of the volcanoes about to erupt? Would it continue like this for another day? The rest of the week?
The earth continued to shake well through the next day and night, reaching 199 earthquakes by midafternoon. Any dream of a nap that day was interrupted by low flying helicopters surveying and alerting the area that we were indeed experiencing a natural disaster.
Earthquakes are odd, you can hear them before you feel them, like a wave that you know is coming. It sounds a little bit like a stampede of the wildest animals quickly running in your direction. And it sounds exactly the same as a camioneta passing by on the cobblestone streets of Antigua, which happens all the time.
Sleep came much quicker the past two nights with fewer quakes and less intensity, and likely because my mind and body were at the point of total exhaustion. As of this morning (Saturday), we’ve had 576 earthquakes since 3:11 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. The past two days, the quakes have only landed in the 3-4 magnitude range on a seismograph. Still, the earth feels like one giant boat that I haven’t gotten off of yet, with subtle and not-so-subtle rocking every couple of hours.
Scientists confirmed that the seismic swarm was not a result of volcanic activity, Gracias a Dios, but instead is due to a fault line (as best as I understand it). Earthquakes are normal here because of the many tectonic plates that interact frequently, but seismic swarms are unusual. Deep in my research, I discovered that there were/are seismic swarms in Washington State, Japan and Mexico over the same general time period.
Jacob arrived more or less on time on Wednesday night, roughly 30 hours after the quakes began. The gate to Antigua reopened, and the airport never officially closed. He had plenty of space to spread out with only about 20 people on his flight.
Escuela Integrada was closed again on Thursday and Friday, with hopes of reopening this coming Monday if it’s deemed safe to do so. Life is more or less back to normal in Antigua, but the surrounding villages have suffered significantly.
Two of the teachers from Escuela Integrada haven’t been able to leave their village since returning Tuesday afternoon, and access to the village is extremely limited due to rock and mudslides covering the roads. The oldest structures sustained the most damage, and, in a land of old buildings, you can imagine what this means. The area of Santa Maria de Jesus hasn’t had electricity or water since Tuesday.
According to a recent news article (and probably the most accurate source I’ve been able to find), “at least 201 homes suffered severe damage, 219 moderate damage, 168 minor damage, and 25 are at risk. At least 46 educational centers were also affected, as were 31 roads, 13 public buildings, and one highway.” Five people died with another two yet to be identified. More than 1 million people felt the tremors, 588 are currently homeless, nine remain hospitalized and 3,455 people affected. The numbers are expected to rise as the extent of the damage is evaluated over the days and weeks to come.
One of the most frustrating aspects of the entire situation is the lack of accurate and timely information outside of Guatemala. Every major U.S. news source had the numbers wrong – the wrong magnitudes, the wrong locations, the wrong number of quakes, etc. There was some decent information published, albeit late and never updated, in Reuters. The last article about Guatemala in BBC was on June 18, and prior to that, on the 5th of June.
Unfortunately this is common for the most vulnerable populations. The Western world doesn’t hear about suffering outside of the U.S., or only hears about it inaccurately, after days, weeks or longer. In the U.S., there is an information “desert” about the rest of the world, while every move a celebrity makes (or the president) is shouted from the rooftops. The U.S. experiences information overload about things that don’t even really matter.
Certainly there is plenty happening right now that does matter, but day-to-day, week-to-week, so much of the suffering in the U.S. is caused by us. Without going down a political rabbit hole, because that rarely solves anything anyway, I hope and pray that people pause for a moment to think about the gravity of humanity around the world amidst their preoccupations with material things and superficial worries.
As I read this morning’s reflection in Pan de la Palabra (a book of Mass readings and reflections), Pope Benedict XVI’s words from Spe Salvi rang true: “Love of God leads to participation in the justice and generosity of God towards others. Loving God requires an interior freedom from all possessions and all material goods: the love of God is revealed in responsibility for others” (Spe Salvi, 28, emphasis mine).
We have a responsibility to care for and protect those most vulnerable, especially those whose very existence is questioned during natural disasters in both the U.S. and around the world. What would it look like if we put some energy into taking better care of each other and spent less time and attention toward fighting over selfish ambition?
—The Faithful Writer
The Faithful Writer 