earthquake « Life in Peru

Señor de los Temblores

Señor de los Temblores is celebrated in Cusco during Holy Week, or Semana Santa. On Easter Monday the image of Señor de los Temblores is carried through the city in a procession that ends in front of the Cusco Cathedral on the Plaza de Armas, or main square, of Cusco. Tens of thousands gather on the Plaza de Armas and surrounding streets to see the procession.

Earthquakes are common here in the Andes, and people worship Señor de los Temblores because they believe he protects them from dangerous earthquakes. It is believed that the image of Señor de los Temblores was taken out during the devastating earthquake in Cusco in 1650, and the earthquake stopped. I’ve also heard many locals say the same thing happened during the earthquake in 1950, the most recent serious earthquake here in Cusco.

Patricia took some pictures of the procession of Señor de los Temblores this past Monday:

Señor de los Temblores

Annual procession of Señor de los Temblores

Crowd waiting for Señor de los Temblores

Señor de los Temblores by the Cusco Cathedral

April 10, 2009 Posted by wwelvaert | History and culture | Cusco, earthquake, Peru, Señor de los Temblores, Semana Santa | 3 Comments

My first earthquake

A few days ago we had a tiny earthquake (temblor) here in Cusco. To be honest I didn’t believe it was an earthquake until I heard mention of it on the radio the next day.

Peru is prone to earthquakes. The last major earthquake in Cusco was in 1950, I found some great photos of the 1950 Cusco earthquake on Amazilia Alba’s blog.

One of my favorite lines of the Led Zeppelin song “Going to California”:

“The mountains and the canyons start to tremble and shake
The children of the sun begin to wake”

I use this song often when I teach ESL at ICPNA. I ask the students to figure out which part of the lyrics could be about Peru. The reference to earthquakes is obvious, and the Incas used to worship the sun. Typically my students do pick up on the idea that “children of the sun” could refer to Peruvians.

Of course, you can interpret most Led Zeppelin songs any way you like, that’s part of the beauty of it. On the ICPNA teacher’s blog I wrote about how I use the song in teaching.