Just before ten o'clock last night El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua were shaken by a 7.4 earthquake which occurred out in the ocean off the coast of El Salvador/Honduras/Nicaragua. It was more than 164 kilometers (100 miles) from San Salvador, but felt very strong and lasted almost 30 seconds.
I was outside walking at the time and began to hear the windows rattling, but didn't give it much notice. After about 5-10 seconds the sound increased and everyone started coming out of their houses. I turned around and headed back to our house to find Stephen outside, as well.
There has been one reported death in the country and some damaged property/homes in San Miguel, about 3 hours from where we live (much closer to the epicenter.) There have been some landslides and a tsunami warning was issued along the coast of El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua.
There were several strong earthquake/tremors in Nicaragua on Thursday and Friday before we arrived. But, there hadn't been any additional ones until tonight's 11:10 p.m. "wake up" call. It was a 5.5 tremor located about 30 kilometers or so from our location.
It was a first for most of the team members from the states who are staying at the hotel with us; every one was calm, waiting patiently outside for 30 minutes before returning to their rooms.
The team from El Salvador is at a different hotel. I was able to Facebook chat with at least three of them and they are fine, but some of them are scared. It woke many of them up!
Please pray:
1. for the safety of our entire team and the people of Nicaragua
2. for the tremors to cease so that we can continue to focus on our purpose for being here--evangelism--and not be worried or distracted.
