Peru launches seismic prevention plan

Peruvian President Alan Garcia on Wednesday announced the launching of a seismic prevention plan nationwide.

The program aims to prepare residents who live in urban areas in order to deal with the possible consequences of an earthquake of great magnitude.

For that reason, President Garcia announced an immediate review of the most vulnerable areas of the cities by hundreds of government engineers and professionals.

Besides, Garcia asked the engineers of the armed forces, police and municipalities to check out the housing conditions as soon as possible.

He also urged engineers to relocate and strengthen the buildings' structures if their conditions are not suitable.

"We need to let families know what to do if an earthquake of great intensity hits the country, as well as know the safest place from the standpoint of structure and seism," he said.

He also announced the purchase of a system for early detection of tsunamis.

"We will launch a detection system of tsunamis. But we want to warn people that everyone who lives 500 meters from the seashore must move away from the sea at the time of a quake," Garcia stressed.

Garcia traveled to Chile Tuesday with a shipment of humanitarian aid for victims of Saturday's large earthquake, the worst Chile has suffered in 50 years. The temblor has left 802 people dead and affected 2 million others.

Source: Xinhua