This Ops Update is intended for reporting on emergency appeals.
Launched on 20 February, 2002 for CHF 7,912,800 for 6 months.
Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) allocated: N/A
Beneficiaries: 60,000
Period covered: February - March, 2002

"At a Glance"

Appeal coverage: 30.2%
Related Appeals: 2002 Turkey Annual Appeal no. 01.47/2002
Outstanding needs: CHF 5,705,986

Summary/Update: The rapid response and effective coordination between the Turkish Red Crescent Society (TRCS) or Kizilay, the Federation delegation, and the PNS has demonstrated a much improved disaster response capacity of the Red Crescent in Turkey. It is positive to note that the lessons gained from the 1999 earthquake operation, and the training and capacity building efforts within the national society have been fruitful.

Background

On Sunday, 3 February at 09:15 local time (0815 GMT), Turkey was struck by an earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter Scale, the epicenter was located in the Bolvadin district of Afyon province,38.52N 31.16E. The earthquake affected the Eber, Cay, Bolvadin and Sultandagi sub-provinces of Afyon, which is 250 km southwest of the capital Ankara. The earthquake was felt in the neighboring provinces of Ankara, Burdur, Isparta, Eskisehir and Sakarya. According to the Kandilli Observatory, hundreds of aftershocks and tremors have been recorded since the massive earthquake - 98 of them recorded at more than 3.0 in intensity including three that registered 5.0, 5.2 and 5.3 on the Richter Scale. 41 people were killed by the direct effects of the disaster, while approximately 300 were injured, some severely. According to a final damage assessments conducted by the Ministry of Settlement and Public Works General Directorate of Disaster Affairs, a total of 15,677 dwelling houses and business premises have been damaged:

For a month after the event authorities and seismologists instructed inhabitants of the area to stay out of buildings due to the ongoing aftershocks. Most people in the disaster-affected districts are psychologically affected and are still afraid of returning to their homes.

No major disruption of electricity and water supply was experienced. Minor damage to electricity and telephone lines was swiftly repaired and put back to service. Large quantities of bottled water was provided by authorities to meet the immediate drinking needs.

Actions taken

Coordination and cooperation between the Government, local authorities and the Turkish Red Crescent Society (TRCS) has been good and the basic and immediate needs were met within days of the earthquake. The local media has also praised the rapid and effective response by the TRCS .

Distribution of relief items

On its behalf, the TRCS' response to the disaster was swift and organized and the Society has successfully delivered shelter, medical assistance, and food. During the peak of the operation, TRCS had 110 staff operating in the area. The TRCS has delivered the following relief items:

• 20,631 tents
• 50,100 blankets
• 11,682 heating stoves
• 1,862 12 kg gas bottles.

During the first two weeks the TRCS' mobile clinics and 5 ambulances provided health services to 2,727 persons, staffed by 5 doctors, 15 nurses, and 2 health technicians. Teams of psychologists, taking turns for a week per team, provided services for four weeks. This activity was hampered, and eventually halted, due to a lack of funds.

Hot meals and kitchen sets

With support from the local authorities and through kind donations from the public, the TRCS was able to provide 400,450 hot meals during a period of one month utilizing the 19 TRCS mobile and field kitchens. During the 20-29 March period, and with the support and assistance of the American Red Cross, 10,000 hygiene kits, 7,000 dry food packages, and 190 kitchen sets were distributed to some 9,863 pre-qualified families in the affected area (2,000 kitchen sets were procured but only 190 families met the set criteria. Consequently, 1,810 kitchen sets have been stored in TRCS warehouse for future use). A total of six trained TRCS distribution teams and a warehouse team conducted the distribution at centralized distribution points or `house to house' depending on circumstances.

Ongoing Plans

The TRCS currently has 12 persons and 5 vehicles in the area. Their main task is to collect tents and stoves for future emergency use. Whereas the initial estimate was to collect approximately 8,000 tents, TRCS has now increased the target to 14,000. The collected tents will need maintenance before re-use (cleaning and mending), and the TRCS estimates that this will cost up to USD 100/tent. Repair and maintenance of collected stoves will, however, be marginal.

During the next couple of weeks joint teams from the TRCS and the American Red Cross will conduct monitoring and evaluation in order to determine the effectiveness of the distributions as well as the levels of satisfaction of the beneficiaries with regards to the service and relief items provided by the TRCS and the American Red Cross.

In its efforts to improve disaster response further, the TRCS, with the support of the Federation and PNSs in Turkey, is planning to conduct an evaluation exercise of the response to the Afyon earthquake. The intention is to invite all involved (Government, local authorities, and other concerned parties) to participate in this evaluation and to profit from the lessons learnt.

A main component of the appeal was the replenishment of tents, stoves and blankets to enable the TRCS to respond to another earthquake. The TRCS, together with the Federation, have invited 12 companies to tender for winter tents. The result of the tender has not been adequate, and the TRCS and the Federation have therefore agreed on a re-prioritization of objectives. All cash received will be utilized for the procurement of 1,390 tents (Federation standard), and the remaining funds will be used for the procurement of material for producing tents at the TRCS tent manufacturing unit. The capacity of this unit has been increased considerably and will be able to produce the tents within the delivery time frame offered by other tent manufacturers.

Outstanding needs

To date the appeal is 30.2% covered, and funds are urgently needed to enable the TRCS to replenish its stocks of tents in case of further earthquakes.

For further details please contact: Penny Elghady, Phone: 41 22 730 4319; Fax: 41 22 733 03 95; email: Eghady@ifrc.org

All International Federation Operations seek to adhere to the Code of Conduct and are committed to the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response (SPHERE Project) in delivering assistance to the most vulnerable.

This operation seeks to administer to the immediate requirements of the victims of this disaster. Subsequent operations to promote sustainable development or longer-term capacity building will require additional support, and these programmes are outlined on the Federation's website.

For further information concerning Federation operations in this or other countries, please access the Federation website at http://www.ifrc.org.

John Horekens
Head
Relationship Management Department

Lynette Lowndes
Head
Europe Department

Annex 1