Urgent Prayer Request

I received this email from a blogging friend, Kathie in Costa Rica:

We urgently need your prayers here in Costa Rica. Yesterday at 1:21 p.m. we were hit by the most damaging earthquake Costa Rica has had in 118 years.

It registered at 6.2 and the epicenter was some 10 kilometers from Poas Volcano. The damage is extensive due to the mountainous nature of the area.

There are 14 known dead so far as of 7 a.m. today with dozens missing and feared buried under landslides. It is raining in the mountains this morning which is seriously hampering rescue operations, and increasing the possibility of more landslides.

Entire communities are cut off as many miles of roads totally disappeared and bridges are gone as well. The Red Cross is trying to get into those areas by helicopter and the latest report is that the U.S. military in Honduras is sending down two large helicopters to help airlift people out.

So far we have had over 1500 aftershocks and OVSICORI (the earthquake/volcano people) are advising that this may go on for an indefinite period of time. The epicenter was 35 kilometers NNW of San Jose where we live.

We were shaken up quite a bit, but suffered no major damage. The quake was caused by movement of a local fault system (not tectonic or subductive). Geologists are keeping a close watch on Poas Volcano because the epicenter was quite close to the principle crater. Will try to keep everyone updated as much as possible.

Our thoughts and prayers are with you!