EARLY MORNING EARTHQUAKE CENTERED OFF THE HONDURAN COAST AROUND 2:24 AM LOCAL TIME THURSDAY May 28, 2009. QUAKE MEASURED 7.1 ON RICHTER SCALE.

Belize Situation: Most affected area - Southern Belize, specifically Monkey River, Independence and Placencia Villages in the Stann Creek District.

MONKEY RIVER:

- 5 houses destroyed

- 20 or so other houses that were 6 feet support columns sunk to approximately 3 feet.

- Damages reported to water lines of the village's rudimentary water system. Village temporarily out of water.

- NEMO has dispatched 15 hundred gallons of water to Monkey River. 5 hundred 5 gallon containers arrived this morning while 1 thousand 1 gallon containers arrived later in the morning.

INDEPENDENCE:

- Water reservoir in the village was destroyed. Damages also reported on a number of houses there.

PLACENCIA:

- Water reservoir damaged.

- Remaining water inside the reservoir was ordered to be drained out.

Preliminary report indicates that houses were also damaged in Placencia. The village has a backup supply of water.

- In general, engineers identifying breaks in water lines and working on them to have full water supply back to normal hopefully by day's end.

CHALILLO DAM:

- Officials at BECOL are reporting NO STRUCTURAL DAMAGES to the dam in the Cayo District as several concerns were raised by residents in that area.

NEMO's immediate response in any emergency is getting into affected areas with assistance to affected residents. Since early morning NEMO's District Emergency Centers and Coordinators have been activated and have committee members and volunteers on the ground conducting assessments.

Preliminary reports from NEMO's Damage Assessment and Needs Analysis Committee indicates that the school building in Seine Bight Village, Stann

Creek sustained damages

Teachers in Southern Belize are urged to check on conditions of their classrooms.

Motorists using the hummingbird and southern highways are asked to exercise caution on the road and when crossing bridges.

Minor oil spill reported at Belize Natural Energy BNE compound in Big Creek but was quickly contained. NEMO was informed that about 5 gallons or so of crude oil spilled from one of the company's storage tanks.

No damage reported in the agricultural sector