7.0 MAGNITUDE QUAKE SHAKES PERU

7.0-MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE 
SHAKES PERUVIAN AMAZON

Pucallpa, Peru (BNO NEWS) - A powerful but deep earthquake struck the Amazon in northern Peru on Wednesday afternoon, seismologists said, injuring several people.  The 7.0-magnitude earthquake at 12.46 p.m. local time (1746 GMT) was centered about 44 kilometers (27 miles) east of Contamana, a town in the Loreto Region in northeastern Peru. It struck about 149 kilometers (92 miles) deep, making it a fairly deep earthquake, according to the Geophysical Institute of Peru.  The United States Geological Survey (USGS), which also measured the earthquake at 7.0 on the Richter scale, estimated that some 40,000 people may have felt strong shaking, while 572,000 people may have felt moderate shaking.  In the Brazilian town of Cruzeiro do Sul, about 135 miles (220 kilometers) northeast of Pucallpa the quake hit hard and buildings trembled.

A spokesperson for the National Civil Defense Institute confirmed two people sustained minor injuries when they fell off the roof of a home in the Perené District in Junin when the earthquake struck. One home also collapsed in Perené District, causing no casualties.  The state-run Andina news agency added that 18 children were also injured in Jauja province as a result of panic caused by the earthquake. None of their injuries were believed to be serious.  In August 2007, at least 514 people were killed and more than 1,000 others were injured when a massive 8.0-magnitude earthquake struck the central coast of Peru, generating a small tsunami which flooded some areas.  But Peru’s most catastrophic earthquake happened in May 1970 when a powerful 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck about 36 kilometers (22 miles) off the coast of northwestern Peru, killing at least 66,794 people. More than 50,000 others were injured.

Yesterday, a strong but deep earthquake shook a sparsely populated jungle region in northern Peru, near Brazil’s border. There were no reports of damage or serious injuries.  The quake had a magnitude of 7.0 and was centered 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of the jungle city of Pucallpa.  It was felt mildly in the capital, Lima, but in Pucallpa, buildings shook, trees swayed, and people headed out into the street.  Peru is among the world’s most seismically active countries.  The Vedic texts contain prescriptions and proscriptions to guide us in our actions, if we do not follow them, reactions will come.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

All the great spiritual and religious traditions of the world warn us that we are answerable to God for all our actions. ... According to the International Society for Disaster Reduction (ISDR), there were three times as many great natural disasters in the 1990s as in the 1960s, while disaster costs increased more than nine-fold in the same period. The deaths from natural disasters have increased from 53,000 in 1990 to 83,000 in 2003.  Therefore for the intelligent, the reality of karma is not difficult to see. We can never break the law; we can only break ourselves against the law. A stubborn fool who jumps from the top of a hundred-story building can imagine that there is no law of gravity ? but only till he hits the ground. Similarly we can go on with our godless sinful ways, imagining that there are no karmic laws ? but only till the karmic reactions hit us as tsunamis or terrorism or wars or ecological disasters or in some other way.

Śrīpad Caitanya Caran das (BE E&TC) :
“When Nature Boomerangs” 
“The Spiritual Scientist” - Vol. 3 Issue 13. 
Bhaktivedanta Academy for Culture and Education (BACE), Pune
http://thespiritualscientist.com/

http://deepak.esmartguy.com/ss/when_nature_boomerangs.htm