I visited the quake site on the 19th of June. We saw the tent city sheltering the 5000 people left homeless from the quake. The majority had lived in buildings that had sustained some damage and had been condemned. Some houses were destroyed typically from the roofs collapsing. It was estimated that it would take six months to repair the damage on the building that can be repaired, and to build new homes to replace the homes that were beyond repair. We saw these home being build at a furious pace.

It looked as if in the city it was business as usual. Everyone seemed to be at work, since we arrived in during working hours. The tents were empty because people were on their jobs and children were at school. It was clear that the central government and the local government had responded to the quake quickly, and we saw another tent city of green tents that belonged to the army and government workers. They were also empty. We also saw scattered tents out in the country side in small villages.

Austin

*Photo in blog post feed from The Telegraph