Quake, pt. 2

Recent figures from El Universo:

443 dead
4027 injured
231 disappeared

Photos on the Web show gray city blocks pulverized, the occasional storefront or utility pole propped up against the rubble, the occasional political poster contributing a spot of color.

People continue to be pulled out of the wreckage. In Pedernales, some are now being detected by how they smell.

There is much suffering in Manta and in Portoviejo. In Canoa, slightly north of Bahía, 80 percent of the buildings have been destroyed.

Relief efforts are intense. Volunteers and supplies pour into the northwest from the larger cities and from abroad. (It’s strange to read that global celebrities are talking about Ecuador.)

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

In my own little life, lately, I’ve been doing my taxes; I’ve been typing up more of my Juan Bosch paper; and I’ve been reading and rereading Frank Stockton’s story, “The Lady, or the Tiger?,” and making shiny PDFs of it (it’s in the public domain).