Susan Candiotti on the devastating quake in El Salvador

Susan Candiotti

CNN Correspondent Susan Candiotti is reporting from El Salvador, where a magnitude 7.6 earthquake has killed more than 400 people and left another 1,200 people missing.

Q: What rescue efforts are under way and what are officials doing to provide shelter to those left homeless?

CANDIOTTI: President Francisco Flores is continuing to visit some of the hardest hit areas to look at the damage himself.

Emergency officials are also pushing ahead with evacuation efforts of one of San Salvador's hardest hit suburbs, an area called Santa Tecla. They're especially concerned about that area, because they fear additional mudslides.

RELATED STORIES Aid pours in for quake-stricken El Salvador January 16, 2001

VIDEO CNN's Susan Candiotti reports on the devastation caused by the magnitude 7.6 earthquake Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) CNN's Suzanne Kelly reports that many people remain hopeful more survivors will be found (January 14) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) CNN's Glenn Van Zutphen reports on the damage and the rising death toll (January 14) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)   MESSAGE BOARD Central American quake     DONATIONS To make donations to help quake victims call: (in English:) 1-800-HELP-NOW 1-800-435-7669 (in Spanish:) 1-800-257-7575 Dial 00 before number if calling from outside U.S.     GALLERY El Salvador recovers from powerful quake   MAGNITUDE GUIDE Below is an interactive guide to earthquake magnitude and severity: Magnitude: Less than 3.5 3.5 - 5.4 Under 6.0 6.1 - 6.9 7.0 - 7.9 8 or greater IN-DEPTH Earthquakes of the 20th Century   ALSO Grim verdict of quake rescue experts Woman rescued after workers dig for 12 hours Pope leads European reaction to quake Quake levels 100-year-old church in El Salvador

Hundreds of homes in that area were buried in mud, and they had to temporarily halt search-and-rescue operations there on Sunday.

Late Sunday night, authorities went on national television and radio, and sent police door-to-door to encourage people to evacuate, so they wouldn't be victimized by more mudslides.

Authorities are encouraging residents to move to shelters set up around the capital where residents can be taken care of. Unfortunately, authorities say some residents are not going along with evacuation orders because people want to protect their belongings, as well as personally participate in the search-and-rescue operations. Many residents want to continue to look for their missing loved ones.

However, authorities are trying to convince residents to evacuate by telling them they will provide round-the-clock security in those areas and that their belongings will be protecting. Authorities also say that should be the least of residents' concerns.

There is a continuing need for medical supplies. All of the hospitals are very busy in the capital in particular. Various countries around the world are sending in help, including medical supplies, medical personnel and people to assist in search-and-rescue operations.

It's remarkable to see people standing literally on mountains of mud, as they either watch the search-and-rescue efforts go on or they get down on their hands and knees and claw away at the mud, looking for signs of survivors.

What happens when a tragedy strikes is that people come together. People have organized themselves in some of these hard-hit areas where there aren't government-sponsored rescue efforts going on. So, residents in some regions are setting up assembly lines and moving material to get it out of the way, as they try to find whoever might still be alive.

Q: Have there been any remarkable stories of survival?

CANDIOTTI: Authorities say a 22-year-old man was trapped for 30 hours before he was found on Sunday. This young man was discovered after he started tapping on the concrete. Rescuers then found him and he had suffered only from dehydration and some minor cuts to one of his legs.

Another government official told me about a man who was discovered trapped beneath mud. This man called for help from his cell phone, and they were able to pinpoint his location.

Q: How "earthquake proof" are homes in the region?

CANDIOTTI: I've heard from some informed sources that a lot of these newer homes have been constructed on sites where little has been done to test the soil beforehand. They say that's because of a number of factors, including the rapid expansion of population growth and therefore the construction of homes in some cases has gotten far ahead of the government's ability to oversee the new construction and conduct the proper inspections.

Q: Does the government plan to conduct any sort of investigation into the construction of homes?

CANDIOTTI: The president's chief of staff, Juan Jose Daboub, said standards were improved after the last earthquake struck in 1986, the last major earthquake here.

But Daboub also told me that once this is over with, they intend to conduct an investigation to see what kind of standards were used to construct some of these homes. While rules and regulations were in place, they need to find out how good of a job the rules and regulations were being followed, according to the chief of staff.