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In Brief
This Information Bulletin (no. 001/2006) is being issued for information only. The Federation is not seeking funding or other assistance from donors for this operation at this time.
The Situation
On 20 March 2006, at approximately 20.44 local time, an earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter Scale shook eastern Algeria, particularly the Bejaia Wilaya. According to the Algerian Geological Centre (CRAAG), the quake's epicentre was located a kilometre from the commune of Kherrata. The areas which registered the most damage were located in Laalam, in the Tameridjt commune, some 60 kilometres from the town of Bejaia. Bas ed on official figures, four persons (one woman, and three children aged between 10 and 13 years) were killed and approximately nine were injured. Thirty houses were destroyed, 32 had major damage; and this resulted in 200 families becoming homeless. Damage was also reported to roads, which in the initial hours after the earthquake, rendered inaccessible the mountainous areas ; and severely hampered the rescue efforts. The power and water supplies were also disrupted. Since then, the roads have been cleared and electricity has been restored, but water supplies remain inadequate. An emergency operations centre was established at the Wilaya, by the local authorities, to coordinate the rescue and relief efforts.
Red Cross and Red Crescent action
Volunteers (including one person who was trained in July 2005 as a trainer in the Sphere standards) from the Bejaia committee of the Algerian Red Crescent were immediately present in the affected area, as the committee was in the process of carrying out its regular feed ing of the homeless at the time of the earthquake. Personnel from the national headquarters were in constant contact with the local committee during the hours which followed. The headquarters also coordinated with other committees that were also on alert in the event that there was need to reinforce the human resource capacity of the local committee. Coordination meetings were also held with the World Food Programme and the French and Spanish Red Cross representatives, and constant contact has been maintained with the Tunis Regional Office since the beginning of the operation. The committee coordinated closely with the local authorities in the provision of rescue and relief to the affected persons. The Red Crescent personnel also participated in damage and needs assessment activities. Some volunteers and supplies were also made available to the SAMU to assist in the provision of health care to the injured. The committee has been participating actively in the emergency operations centre since its activation.
In addition, due to the regional warehouse project which led to the pre-positioning of strategic stocks, the local committee was able to immediately despatch the following items:
- 47 tents in Taskala village
- 27 tents in Ait Sendan
- 31 tents in Ait Bouchekout
- 22 tents in Ait Amar
- 13 tents in Ait Moussa
- 8 tents in Ait Maban, and
- 8 tents in Laalam.
The decision to distribute tents to the affected families was seen as the best option, given that the affected persons preferred to remain close to their homes, instead of being assembled in emergency shelters. The following items were distributed from the temporary base which was established by the Red Crescent committee in a school:
- 700 bottles of water
- 720 litres of milk
- 110 blankets
- 13,600 tubs of yogurt.
Food parcels of pasta, beans, coffee, milk, sugar, lentils, cereal, cooking oil and yogurt were also prepared and distributed to the affected families.
Immediate Needs
Based on the current situation, the Algerian Red Crescent is in need of support to replenish and/or boost its nonperishable stocks for future emergencies as under:
- tents,
- blankets,
- cots,
- flashlights,
- two generators,
- one 1,000 litres water tank,
- flashlights.
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. For support to or for further information concerning Federation operations in this or other countries, please access the Federation website at http://www.ifrc.org For longer-term programmes, please refer to the Federation's Annual Appeal.
For further information specifically related to this operation please contact:
In (Algeria): Algerian Red Crescent,(Dr. Baroudi El Fachouch, Director of Activities ), email: info@cra-dz.org, phone: 00213 6169 5975, fax: 00213 21 633 690
In (Tunisia): North Africa Regional Office (Anne E. LeClerc, Head of Office, Tunis ), email: ae.leclerc@ifrc.org, phone: +216 98 33 7724 , fax: +216 71 86 2971
In Geneva: MENA Regional Department, Evgeni Parfenov , Regional Officer , email: evgeni.parfenov@ifrc.org, phone: +4122 730 4325, fax: +4122 733 0395
All International Federation assistance seeks to adhere to the Code of Conduct and is committed to the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response in deliv ering 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