Attachments
A. SITUATION ANALYSIS
Description of the disaster
An earthquake struck Pakistan's province of Balochistan near the city of Harnai on Thursday, 7 October 2021 with a magnitude of 5.9, striking early in the morning around 03:02 local time when people were asleep in their homes. According to the PDMA-Balochistan, severe damages were reported in the Harnai District and minor damages in the cities of Sibi and Quetta. Landslides had blocked roads leading to the affected region, disrupting rescue and recovery efforts. As most of the homes in the affected region are constructed by mud and stones, there was a sustained risk of complete demolition in case of further aftershocks. The consecutive aftershocks had sustained the traumatic situation in affected areas; the risks of damaged houses suddenly collapsing forced the population to opt to reside outside in the open air at night. According to the district authorities, most fatalities resulted from roof and wall collapsing. Additional secondary data reported human and livestock loss, injuries, houses severely damaged, and damage to communication channels, roads and bridges. Moreover, the earthquake killed at least 21 people and injured more than 300. Most of the damage appeared to have affected the Harnai district where around 500 mud houses collapsed, and a large number of buildings were damaged, leaving hundreds of people homeless.
Harnai is a remote district located some 168 km from Quetta, Balochistan's provincial capital. The earthquake badly affected the Union Councils (UCs) Saddar 1, Saddar 2 of District Harnai. Due to the remoteness of the area, authorities faced hurdles in the initial response as some roads were blocked due to the landslides.
Summary of current response
Overview of Host National Society
PRCS, with more than 150 staff at NHQ level, seven provincial/state branches, more than 70 district branches and rosters of active volunteers, has the capacity to deploy its rapid response personnel at national, provincial and district levels in the affected areas utilizing their expertise. PRCS has strong existing support departments including finance, logistics, procurement, IT and transport. It has wide recognition in the first aid sector, health, disaster response and WASH programme. PRCS has a full functional provincial branch with its office based in Quetta consisting of trained HR and volunteers. PRCS Balochistan branch also has its warehouse in Quetta with disaster preparedness stocked. PRCS provincial branch is running a number of regular programmes including First Aid, Health, Disaster Management, Restoring Family Links and Youth and Volunteers. Besides, the branch has experience in implementing a DREF operation. In 2020, monsoon floods affected the area and the branch responded with DREF support, gaining valuable lessons learnt. These included, for example, the enhancement of administrative and procurement processes during emergencies, but most importantly also the need to involve the affected community in the planning from the outset. There was also valuable feedback from the flood-affected communities that helped the PRCS team in this operation.
As soon as the media reported on the earthquake in the early hours of 7 October 2021, PRCS started strategizing their response internally, mobilizing resources and coordinating with the PDMA and district authorities. Playing its auxiliary role to the government, PRCS initiated support from the available resources to the affected people through effective coordination with the Deputy Commissioner (DC) District Harnai who is also the PRCS Chairman at the district level. PRCS Provincial Chairman met with DC Harnai and discussed the situation and immediate needs of those affected. The district authorities along with the armed forces initiated the rescue efforts early on with PRCS requested to assist in the form of first aid to earthquake victims and relief items to populations out of reach by the district government due to the limited resources available.
In response, PRCS immediately deployed a team of doctors, paramedics, volunteers and three ambulances equipped with medicines, to provide immediate assistance in the affected areas. In addition, the team was also accompanied by the PRCS Provincial Chairman of Balochistan and Provincial Disaster Management Manager to lead the response. Building on the continued coordination and the compounded needs identified in the initial assessment, PRCS established a temporary field office in the area to maximize its outreach to the people affected by the disaster in the most time-efficient manner. The initial response covered the following key achievements:
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First aid assistance was provided to 105 injured individuals. The majority of the injuries attended to were related to the backbone, shoulder, arm, foot, ankle, and head.
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Psychological first aid was provided to 24 families.
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Relief goods consisting of tents, tarpaulin sheets, blankets, hygiene kits and sleeping bags were distributed to 150 families.
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Coordination meetings were conducted with DC Harnai and other stakeholders.
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Real-time emergency needs assessment including situation analysis was ongoing jointly by the PRCS field team and National Disaster Response Team (NDRT) deployed to the affected area.
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Emergency Operation Centre activated at NHQ and PHQ levels.
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Coordination was ongoing between PRCS NHQ, IFRC and in-country Movement partners.
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IFRC GO was updated.
PRCS support was requested based on a geographical allocation of the most affected UCs in the district, Saddar 1, Saddar 2.
Overview of Red Cross Red Crescent Movement in country
IFRC Country Delegation (CD) and the IFRC Asia Pacific Regional Office (APRO) are providing technical support to PRCS. PRCS continues to coordinate with in-country Partner National Societies (PNS) on the current response to the earthquake with all partners regularly updated through situation reports and other existing mechanisms. A detailed operations briefing was conducted with IFRC, ICRC and in-country PNSs to further discuss the calamity and PRCS proposed response. PRCS did not need to seek bilateral support from the partners for this operation.
IFRC CD monitored the situation in close contact with its counterparts in the PRCS NHQ, stakeholders and in-country PNSs for coordinated planning and response with the launch of the DREF. In addition, IFRC CD and PRCS liaised with in-country partners and kept them updated.
Overview of non-RCRC actors in country
The operation was led and coordinated by the District Administration, while Pakistan Army, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), and PDMA Balochistan supported as per need and mandates. Muslim Aid and some national non-governmental organizations (NGOs) under the umbrella of PDMA-Balochistan also assisted the earthquake-affected families and survivors as per their respective mandates and capacity. PRCS contributions were coordinated with the others through close coordination with the District Administration.
Overcoming the challenges, the initial government assistance provided include:
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The distribution of non-food items, including 200 tents, 2,500 blankets, 100 sleeping bags, 155 quilts and 3,000 hygiene kits. In addition, also appointed 100 schools as shelters for those with fully damaged houses.
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The federal government under the Ehsaas Programme announced a provision of PKR 12,000 for each family in the affected Union Councils of District Harnai. This support is ongoing under Ehsaas Programme.
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The PDMA has also distributed some relief goods, tents, blankets, and food items to the affected people.
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A medical emergency was declared at the Civil Hospital Quetta.
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The PDMA sent heavy machinery and rescue teams to the affected areas from Quetta to pick up the debris and clear the area.
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Several critically injured people were air-evacuated via helicopters to Quetta by the Pakistan army.
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Military doctors and paramedics treated the injured in earthquake-affected areas.
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On 15 October 2021, the PDMA declared an emergency in the Harnai district.