Word: mariquita
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...minutes on Wednesday night. Later, survivors described the wall of destruction that fell on their town in almost the same words used by Historian Gómez. "First there were earth tremors," remembered Rosa Maria Henao, 39, the mother of two, as she lay in the 30-bed hospital of Mariquita, a small town about 15 miles north of Armero. "The air suddenly seemed heavy. It smelled of sulfur. Then there was a horrible rumbling that seemed to come from deep inside the earth...
...number of survivors increased, however, so did the size of the relief problem. In the nearby towns of Mariquita and Guayabal, hospital facilities were immediately overwhelmed. At Mariquita, authorities were laying out the wounded on any available surface, from black plastic garbage bags to burlap coffee sacks. Mudslide victims were being wrapped in tablecloths, curtains, anything that local citizens could spare. Dazed survivors, still covered with mud, roamed the town's streets looking for lost loved ones...
...week progressed, fears of a second disaster sent occasional flashes of panic through the shell-shocked rescue camps. When President Betancur helicoptered into Mariquita for a second visit to the devastated zone, he encountered just such a scene. Said a local witness: "People were crying desperately, seeking out refuge in places that were more secure, while a vehicle with a loudspeaker rolled through the streets urging them to evacuate in order to avoid another Armero." Betancur struggled to restore calm. "Please, please, no more unfounded rumors," he exhorted. "We cannot be overcome by panic...