CHURCH WORLD SERVICE EMERGENCY RESPONSE
OFFICE
34 Denominations & Communions Working
Together to Meet Human Needs
SITUATION: An Oct. 14 earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter Scale hit northern Chile, causing eight deaths, injuring 272, and leaving nearly 60,000 homeless. More than 20,000 homes were either damaged or destroyed.
Five of the victims were a family that
perished when their home was reduced to rubble.
The earthquake's epicenter was located near the town of Illapel, 200 miles
north of Santiago. The tremor was felt as far as away as Buenos Aires,
the capitol of Argentina, 1,000 miles to the east.
Thousands continue living in the streets or in fields next to their homes. Most of the victims live in the Province of Choapa, a remote rural area.
While the national emergency office has sent 600 prefabricated homes, a portable hospital, tanks of water, mattresses, food and blankets to the area, there are ongoing unmet needs.
RESPONSE: The Commission of the Christian Fraternity of Churches (CCI), a CWS partner in Chile, has been working with a group of Methodist, Baptist and other Protestant pastors in the affected region to assist the more isolated communities where government assistance has been minimal.
The CCI is petitioning Action by Churches Together (ACT) International for construction assistance, and has asked CWS for $16,400 in CWS Blanket Funds to purchase blankets for the earthquake survivors, said Jane Sullivan-Davis, CWS representative in Santiago. CWS has approved the $16,400 request.
There are no immediate plans to issue an appeal for the situation in Chile.
Call the CWS HOTLINE for updates: (800) 456-1310.
For further information about disasters to which Church World Service is responding, contact CWS Emergency Response.
Telephone: (212) 870-3151
E-mail: CWS_DROFFICE.parti@ecunet.org
After-hours emergency pager: (800) 780-0853
Internet Web Site: http://www.ncccusa.org/CWS/emre