PAKISTAN: EARTHQUAKE 14 December 2005
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PAKISTAN: EARTHQUAKE 14 December 2005 The Federation’s mission is to improve the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity. It is the world’s largest humanitarian organization and its millions of volunteers are active in over 183 countries. In Brief Appeal No. 05EA022; Operations Update no. 19; Period covered: 30 November -12 December 2005; Appeal coverage: 66.2%; (click here to go directly to the attached Contributions List, also available on the website). Appeal history: · Preliminary Emergency Appeal (launched as South Asia: Earthquake) on 9 October 2005 for CHF 10.8 million (USD 8.4 million or EUR 7 million) for four months to assist 30,000 families (some 120,000 beneficiaries). · Operations Update No. 3 of 12 October 2005 increased the Preliminary Appeal budget to CHF 73,262,000 (USD 56,616,692 or EUR 47,053,307) to assist up to 150,000 families (some 750,000 beneficiaries) for six months, as an increasingly serious situation has unfolded. · Operations Update No. 5 of 17 October 2005 revised down the number of targeted families to 70,000 (some 500,000 beneficiaries), based on the newly assessed delivery capacity and average family size of seven. · Revised Emergency Appeal launched on 25 October 2005 for CHF 152 million (USD 117 million or EUR 98 million) to assist 81,000 families (some 570,000 beneficiaries) for six months. · Final report due on 25 July 2006. · Disaster Relief Emergency Funds (DREF) allocated: CHF 200,000. Outstanding needs : To date CHF 100.5 million has been received, of which CHF 52.6 million is in cash and CHF 47.9 million is in-kind contributions. More pledges are in the pipeline and will be reflected in the next operations update; updates are now being issued on a weekly basis. Additional pledges – especially in cash – are still urgently needed. Related Emergency or Annual Appeals: Pakistan Annual Appeal 05AA049, South Asia Regional Annual Appeal 05AA051 Operational Summary: On 13 December, an earthquake measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale struck the Afghan Hindu Kush mountains, with tremors rocking northern Pakistan and felt as far away as New Delhi. There have been no immediate reports of casualties in Pakistan. Today a further earthquake measuring 5.2 hit the Uttaranchal area of northern India – at this stage no casualties or damage are reported. The Federation/Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS) are intensifying efforts to distribute shelter materials and other relief items to vulnerable communities in the coming three to four weeks, before the onset of heavy snow cuts off access to remote mountainous areas. Over 100 PRCS volunteers have joined the existing relief teams to carry out assessments and distribute goods in the Allai Valley and Kohistan district. To date, the Federation/PRCS has reached more than 36,000 families with non-food relief items (NFI) – of these families, more than 29,000 have received tents. Nearly 96,000 patients have been seen by the Federation and Red Cross and Red Crescent partners in earthquake affected areas of the country. Mobile health teams continue to expand services, reaching out to remote villages in Shangla district. Meanwhile, the Federation continues to provide assistance to the ministry of health to re-establish basic health care units, many of them destroyed as a result of the earthquake. Pakistan: Earthquake; Appeal no. 05EA022; Operations Update no. 19 2 To support the efforts of relief teams, the Federation is extending water sanitation support to the Allai Valley and Kohistan distric t. The two water sanitation emergency response units (ERUs) maintain a constant level of potable water for more than 30,000 people in the two areas around Batagram and Balakot, while hygiene promotion activities continue to expand in both towns, with the distribution of hygiene kits, hygiene education and the establishment of a network of hygiene promoters. For further information specifically related to this operation please contact: · In Islamabad: Khalid Kibriya (Secretary-General), Pakistan Red Crescent Society; email: [email protected], Phone: +92.51.925.0404; Fax: +92.51.925.0408 · In Islamabad: Per Jensnaes (Acting Head of Delegation); email: [email protected]; Phone: +92.300.555.4502; Fax: +92.51.443.0745; Flemming Nielsen (Head of Operations); email: [email protected]; Mobile: +92.0300.555.4522 (Pakistan); +41.79.217.3343 (Geneva) · In Geneva: Jagan Chapagain (South Asia Regional Officer), email: [email protected]; Phone: +41.22.730.4316; Fax: +41.22.733.0395; Christine South (Pakistan Desk Officer); email: [email protected]; Phone: +41.22.730.4529; Penny Elghady (Asia Pacific Department); email: [email protected]; Phone: +41.22.730.4864. · For logistics/mobilization and coordination of consignments, in-kind donations and shipping instructions please contact: Victoria Tattersfield (Logistics Department); email: [email protected]; Phone: +41.22.730.4852; Mobile: +41.79.308.9820; Fax: +41.22.730.4906. All International Federation assistance seeks to adhere to the Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Disaster Relief and is committed to the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response in delivering assistance to the most vulnerable. For support to or for further information concerning Federation programmes or operations in this or other countries, or for a full description of the national society profile, please access the Federation’s website at http://www.ifrc.org Background An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.6 on the Richter scale, centred 95 km northeast of Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, struck at 08:50 local time (03:50 GMT) on 8 October 2005, with tremors felt across the region from Kabul to Delhi. The quake has decimated northern Pakistan and northern India. In Pakistan alone, enormous numbers of people have been killed and injured. More than 3.5 million people have been made homeless. The immensity of the disaster is such that it remains one of deadliest in the region in living memory. Situation According to the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) more than two million people in quake-affected areas of Pakistan are living in tents or emergency/transitional shelters below 5,000 feet, while another 350,000 to 400,000 people remain in ‘risk areas’ at higher elevations. The agency reports that the focus of its earthquake relief in Pakistan’s mountains is shifting to people living below the snowline. Authorities report that more than 400,000 houses need to be built in northern Pakistan for those left homeless by the earthquake. The government plans to provide 175,000 Pakistani rupees (USD 2,930) to help replace Norwegian Red Cross donated M6 trucks are being used each house that has been destroyed or damaged. to transport relief supplies to earthquake affected communities living in inaccessible areas in the Allai Officials say around USD 4 billion will be earmarked Valley for longer-term reconstruction, expected to begin in April 2006. Pakistan: Earthquake; Appeal no. 05EA022; Operations Update no. 19 3 Reconstruction using wood, steel and corrugated iron sheets will be encouraged to ensure future resistance to earthquakes. Concrete roofs will be discouraged to avoid casualties in future earthquakes, as many concrete-roofed buildings, including most government offices and schools, were those that collapsed in the October earthquake, burying thousands of people under rubble. The military reported that the collapse of a mountainside near Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-administered Kashmir triggered by the earthquake has blocked two major streams flowing out of the Jhelum River, creating huge lakes. Further landslides could breach the lakes, posing a serious threat to 12,000 people in the downstream area of Hattian. Experts are assessing the situation but there are currently no plans to evacuate the area. Operational developments Since relief distributions began on 21 October, five operational areas have been covered by the Federation/PRCS relief teams, with teams continuing to assess needs and distribute aid. In the past weeks, two new operational areas have been added to the coverage. So far the PRCS/Federation has reached some 36,000 families or some 252,000 beneficiaries, nearly half of the target population. Almost 45,000 families remain to be reached in the coming weeks prior to the onset of heavy snows. The need to intensify efforts to shorten the distribution period in a manageable way has become increasingly urgent. The Federation/PRCS has developed a plan aimed at distributing the bulk of the remaining shelter materials and other non-food items in the next three to four weeks, to reach the most vulnerable in the higher elevations and to support vulnerable people in some of the tent camps. The plan will draw on support from an additional number of PRCS volunteers, further regional disaster response teams (RDRTs) and other Red Cross Red Crescent support. Together with Red Cross Red Crescent partners, including the Turkish and Saudi Red Crescent societies, the Federation has to date seen nearly 96,000 patients in earthquake affected areas of the country. Mobile health teams continue to expand, with the two clinics run by the French Red Cross basic health unit reaching villa ges and camps in the Batagram area. In Besham, two mobile health teams are reaching out and improving access to medical care for communities in remote locations in the Shangla and Kohistan districts. The Austrian/Swedish and Austrian/German Red Cross water sanitation emergency response units, in Batagram and Balakot respectively, are maintaining a constant level of production of potable water for more than 30,000 people in the two areas. The Federation is now extending its support to the Allai Valley (inc luding Besham) and Kohistan district to complement the efforts of the relief team’s intensive winter distribution plan.