El Salvador Quake Baffles Rescuers
GENE RANDALL, CNN ANCHOR: Thousands of injured have been pulled out from under tons of earth. At least 222 people are confirmed dead so far; thousands more are missing. As Suzanne Kelly reports, landslides triggered by the quake, are presenting a huge challenge to rescuers.</s>SUZANNE KELLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The people of Santa Tecla had no warning. The small neighborhood outside San Salvador was virtually buried by the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that struck just before mid-day on Saturday. Nearly a day later, rescuers -- many of them family members -- focused on trying to find anyone who may have been buried alive.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It happened so fast. We're bringing people out here. They are bringing up a friend from the house. She is alive, thank God.</s>KELLY: But for others, the news isn't so good. Authorities say they expect the death toll to rise in El Salvador, where some 12,00 people are still unaccounted for. El Salvador's president has declared a national emergency.</s>FRANCISCO FLORES, PRESIDENT, EL SALVADOR (through translator): The priority is in the southern part of Santa Tecla, and the area of Berlin (ph), which has been greatly affected. We have heard there could be people still buried in this area, due to the collapse of the cathedral.</s>KELLY: Rescue teams from Taiwan and the United States are on their work to the region. The Red Cross is already on the scene, assisting with medical care and providing blankets and other supplies to those that lost homes and loved ones. The quake knocked out virtually all communications in Guatemala; it shook buildings as far away as Honduras and Mexico; but few areas were hit harder than Santa Tecla, where a lack of earth moving equipment is making the search for relatives and loved ones a slow and painstaking process Suzanne Kelly, CNN.