Managua is a strange place as it was twice flattened by an earthquake during the twentieth century and has not been rebuilt since the last one (which was in 1972). So now there is no centre, just a string of suburbs. The old centre was beside the lake - with views of the volcanic islands and no doubt the more expensive buildings positioned so as to catch the cooling breezes during the hotter times of year (it was 39°C today). Then the '72 earthquake came and only the cathedral was left standing, even that badly damaged and still too dangerous to go inside even now. This was in the time of the dictator Somoza, so much of the aid that came in was misdirected, and he took advantage of the situation to buy up plenty of cheap land all around the edges of town before slapping a ban on re-building in the centre, so that those wanting to build new homes had to buy land off him - now at vastly inflated prices.
So Managua spread outwards, and the centre remained empty and desolate.
Recent efforts have cleaned it up a bit, put in a family park and a few fountains, but it is still pretty empty. Yet no new 'centre' has developed and it feels as an outsider that the old centre, near the lake, is crying out for development. I've asked a few people about it, and the main reason given for its virtual abandonment is that it is right astride a big fault line, so it is the part of the city most likely to suffer again in the next big earthquake. No one wants to live there.
The fear of earthquakes is very palpable here. People still remember the '72 quake, many lost family, friends and property. More than that, however, is that earthquakes here are an everyday reality. I'd never experienced one before, but four days into the trip, in the middle of a discussion in the office, everything started shaking and there was a loud rumbling sound. It doesn't take long to realise that it is a quake (even if it did feel rather like being in a basement office in the City of London with a tube train going underneath) and we quickly evacuated with all the other staff. It was a 5.2 magnitude, which is quite strong, but was some 60 kilometres deep so didn't do any damage.
Two weeks later and we had another one this afternoon. A much more powerful, although quick-lived, shaking. This time I felt a rather more serious need to get out of the office quickly - I heard something smash in the next room (it was part of the ceiling coming down) and colleagues looked scared. This was a 6.2, and less than 10 kilometres deep, so much stronger. Some colleagues (those too young to remember 1972) said it was the most powerful they had ever felt.
The power and phone lines were out, and aftershocks were expected, so we were told we could go inside only quickly to collect our things and then should head home (back to the hotel for me). When I arrived here everyone was outside following an aftershock, and I've felt two more since as I sit at my desk in the hotel room. I did enjoy the new experience of feeling a fairly powerful earthquake, but I must say that I am not particularly enjoying the aftershocks, wondering how many more there will be, how you judge when one is strong enough to require evacuation, and whether I will be able to get to sleep tonight.
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