Rescue, recovery efforts go on after Salvadoran quake

Civilians sift through the rubble of Saturday's earthquake in Central America

In this story: A state of emergency Spirit lives on amid rubble Nations rush to provide aid RELATED STORIES, SITES

From staff and wire reports

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador -- Rescue workers continued digging outside El Salvador's capital Monday amid slim hopes that some of the hundreds of people buried by Saturday's earthquake still could be alive.

They also faced the grim business of recovering the dead. According to the latest estimates, at least 403 people were killed in El Salvador and at least another 1,200 are missing following landslides generated by the quake. At least eight people also died in Guatemala. (Map of the region)

Fearing the worst, Salvadoran President Francisco Flores has asked for up to 3,000 coffins from Colombia. Search and rescue teams are to meet in the morning to determine where best to deploy their efforts, Israel Zuniga, Red Cross regional director, told CNN.

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)     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

At least 779 people suffered injuries when the temblor struck about 11:30 a.m. local time Saturday in El Salvador.

Zuniga said early Monday that authorities are trying to decide whether to deploy temporary hospitals to treat many of the wounded. Some hospitals were severely damaged and are unable to care for all who need help, he said.

More international aid teams also are expected to arrive Monday in Central America to search for victims and help those who survived. Offers of assistance are coming from as far as Taiwan and Switzerland.

As Sunday night turned into Monday morning, many people in Las Colinas, located outside San Salvador, ignored instructions to evacuate their homes. Some said they were determined to continue digging in the area, hard hit by the quake.

Fearful of more than 600 aftershocks, some with a magnitude of more than 5, authorities late Sunday tried to clear Las Colinas to prevent more casualties.

"We still don't know anything," said Gladis de Carman, searching for her daughter and crying as she spoke on a cell phone to her mother. "And now the ground is shaking again under us."

Late Sunday, workers rescued a 22-year-old man who had been trapped for 30 hours under slabs of concrete in Las Colinas, reviving dwindling hopes that more survivors might be found. Red Cross volunteer Lucio Castellano said the man suffered dehydration and a cut leg but was in good condition.

Flores has declared a state of emergency in El Salvador, a nation of about 6.2 million people about the size of Massachusetts.

The earthquake had a magnitude of 7.6 at its epicenter, located about 65 miles (110 km) south-southwest of San Miguel, El Salvador. Tremors were felt from northern Panama to central Mexico, a distance of more than 1,100 miles (1,760 km).

Zuniga said damage from the quake was more widespread than another temblor that struck in 1986 but not as devastating overall.

The small neighborhood of Santa Tecla outside San Salvador was virtually buried by the quake. Some 500 homes disappeared under what one survivor called "a wave of dirt."

Body-sniffing dogs, sent by Mexico and the United States, roamed across the neighborhood, but hope grows smaller as time passes.

Hundreds of emergency workers and volunteers worked alongside huge cranes to shovel dirt from around collapsed homes in a sea of mud, tree limbs and rubble while dazed survivors milled around the mounds where their homes once stood.

In some instances, whole families were found dead in the dirt, huddled together for protection against the landslide.

National police estimate 4,692 houses were destroyed and 16,148 damaged. Eighty-seven churches were damaged as well, including the ruined Our Lady of Guadalupe Church overlooking Las Colinas.

larger   The earthquake buried a portion of the village of Santa Tecla, El Salvador

"We will need to do some crying today, and there will be time for that," the Rev. Peter Danaher of Lindenhurt, New York, told red-eyed parishioners among the rubble that had been their church. "But we all need to understand how lucky we have been."

Behind Danaher, the only surviving wall displayed a cross in a stained-glass window and an icon of the Virgin. The sounds of hymns drifted a few hundred yards down a ravine to rescuers digging in Las Colinas.

"I am not worried about rebuilding the church," Danaher said. "That can be done in five months or five years, it doesn't matter. That is a question of brick and concrete. Ours is a question of lives and human spirit."

Only three survivors have been recovered from Las Colinas. The low survival rate has not deterred residents from digging through mounds of dirt for the living.

"We are going to take them out dead or alive," said Juan Sanchez, a Green Cross rescue worker.

Pope John Paul II urged countries Sunday to send assistance to El Salvador and Guatemala.

The United States, Mexico, Switzerland, Spain and Venezuela were among the first countries to mobilize relief efforts for El Salvador. International aid, including money, medical supplies and wool blankets, was starting to flow in.

A family member shows a firefighter a family photo album to assist in identifying bodies in Santa Tecla, El Salvador, on Sunday

The United States sent a Disaster Assistance Response Team and critical supplies Sunday. The emergency aid, coordinated by the U.S. Agency for International Development, included 25,000 pounds of blankets, medical kits, drinking water and plastic tarps for makeshift shelters.

Zuniga said the Guatemalan emergency management agency sent a helicopter early Sunday over the southwestern part of Guatemala and part of El Salvador to assess the damage.

The U.S. Embassy in San Salvador was making helicopters available to help with flyovers, he said.

Switzerland has sent an initial contribution of emergency aid worth $100,000 to the disaster victims, the Swiss Development Aid agency said on Sunday. The Swiss Red Cross said it would provide an initial 100,000 Swiss francs ($61,650) for emergency aid to help its sister organization in El Salvador, and the Caritas Schweiz aid group also pledged 100,000 francs.

CNN Correspondent Susan Candiotti and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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