No Earthquake in Arequipa

Well, the earthquake passed us by and left us in blissful ignorance. We didn't feel a thing and were just sitting around. A few people in Arequipa claimed to have felt a "wave" that lasted quite a while. But after 7 hours of all-day parades and parties one has to ask to what extent their senses were alcoholically enhanced?

The phone lines were down across the country but the internet functioned perfectly. In fact, it was via the internet, on a blog set up by the major national newspaper, that first reports came in. Our connection to the world was similarly undisturbed. We have a DSL modem so are using the same telephone wires, at least locally. My guess is that the difference is one of capacity. There is lots of bandwidth for the internet but the traditional (and cellular) phone services are much more limited and so when inundated with calls, they freeze up.

By the way, Arequipa has had an even stronger earthquake, over 8.0, in its recent past and the building we are in showed no signs of any stress. We live on the 5th floor and the stairwell is completely glass-encased so, in event of an earthquake, we are likely to not want to walk down just in case the glass implodes. We have already asked where we should stand and the owner, and architect, of the building stood on a spot and said "this is the strongest point in the building, stand here".