TSF Headquarters, October 1st, 2009
- Reacting to the 7,6 earthquake that struck Indonesia on September 30th, off the city of Padang, in the Western coast of Sumatra, Télécoms Sans Frontières deployed a team of emergency telecommunications specialists from its international headquarters. They will land in Padang and will provide vital and communications support in the affected areas.
Phone lines and power would have been cut off in many of the affected areas in Western Sumatra. TSF will run humanitarian calling operations so that those affected can give news to their family and ask for personalized assistance. TSF will also make sure rescue teams have sufficient communication means to respond to the disaster and communicate right at the heart of the affected area. If needed, TSF will install Emergency Communication Centres with a satellite-based Broadband Internet connection, voice communications and all the necessary IT equipment.
Schools, hospitals and numerous buildings were heavily damaged. There were fires, bridges were cut and there was extreme panic since water pipes were broken and streets were flooded. Indonesian authorities initiated a massive rescue operation after thousands of people were feared trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings and more than 464 confirmed dead following the powerful earthquake, that potentially affected 3,3 million people. Thousands of deaths are likely to be reported.
A second quake that hit Indonesia today will worsen the situation.
The tremor was felt in Singapore, 430 km from the epicentre, forcing the evacuation of several older office buildings. The quake was also felt in Malaysia. In Malaysia's southern coastal city of Johor, citizens fled offices, buildings and shopping centres.
Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the socalled Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.
TSF's technical expertise and assistance will facilitate aid coordination, empower relief and rescue teams in order to ensure an efficient global emergency response.
Deployed in Indonesia, in the Samoa Islands and the Philippines, our teams support the victims and guarantee solutions that benefit the entire humanitarian community.
The mission is supported by the Vodafone Foundation, the United Nations Foundation, Inmarsat, Eutelsat, Vizada, AT&T, Cable and Wireless, PCCW Global, the Communauté d'Agglomération de Pau, and the Conseil Régional d'Aquitaine.
About Télécoms Sans Frontières
Télécoms Sans Frontières: the leading humanitarian NGO specialised in emergency telecommunications
With its 24-hour monitoring centre and relying on its operational bases in Europe, Central America and Asia, Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF) crews of IT and telecoms specialists can intervene anywhere in the world in less than 24 hours. After a sudden onset disaster or conflict, they can set up in a matter of minutes a satellite-based telecoms centre offering broadband Internet, phone and fax lines. These centres enable emergency NGOs, the United Nations and local authorities to communicate right at the heart of a crisis. They also facilitate the coordination of aid efforts. In parallel, TSF runs humanitarian calling operation to offer support and assistance to affected civilians, giving them a link with the outside world from which they would be otherwise completely cut off.
Since its creation in 1998, TSF deployed to nearly 60 countries and assisted almost 500 relief organisations and millions of victims. In 2006, TSF became a partner of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). TSF is First Responder of the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC).
Télécoms Sans Frontières is also a working group member of the United Nations emergency telecoms body (WGET). TSF is a partner of the Humanitarian Aid Department of the European Commission (ECHO) and a member of the Internatuonal Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA)