Attachments
A. Situation analysis
Description of the disaster
A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck off the coast of north-eastern Mindanao, Philippines on 10 February 2017. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) reported that the earthquake was relatively shallow, with a depth of 10 kilometres, and its epicentre was about 16 kilometres from Surigao City. The city is the capital of Surigao del Norte province with over 154,000 inhabitants. After the earthquake struck, Surigao City was placed under a state of calamity on the 11 February. On 13 February, the whole province of Surigao del Norte was placed under state of calamity. The declaration allowed local governments to access calamity funds and to quickly procure necessary supplies.
According to National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), eight persons died and 249 injured due to the earthquake. Based on DSWD Disaster Response Operations Monitoring and Information Center (DROMIC2) terminal report, there were 522 houses destroyed and 10,351 damaged due to the earthquake and the subsequent aftershocks. A total of 47 school facilities were damaged. There were 10,947 families or 54,735 persons displaced. Electricity and water supply were badly affected. Damage to infrastructure, including bridges, government offices, health and school facilities, irrigation system, and roads, has been estimated by the government at 719 billion Philippine pesos (PHP) or approximately 14 million Swiss francs (CHF).
Summary of current response
Overview of Host National Society
Immediately after the earthquake, PRC, through its operations center collected and disseminated information from chapters in the affected areas and directly from Red Cross 143 volunteers. The Surigao chapter sustained some minor damage but remained functional and were able to provide services. The chapter immediately responded by setting up welfare desks at Caraga Administrative Region (CARAGA) Regional Hospital and in the Capitol Grounds of Surigao City, providing psychosocial support, first aid, blood services and ambulance services. Volunteers and staff supported evacuation and search and rescue operations. A total of 68 individuals were supported with blood pressure monitoring while 4,033 individuals were provided with psychosocial support. PRC deployed two ambulances to support the transportation of people with serious injuries to medical facilities for immediate medical attention. The ambulances also supported the transfer of patients from CARAGA Regional Hospital to other nearby hospitals.
Due to the damaged homes and subsequent aftershocks, many families slept outdoors. In response, PRC chapter set up eight family tents on 11 February and dispatched additional 75 family tents from Manila via the government’s C5 plane on 12 February. PRC also deployed four generators to provide lighting while the power supply was out. Together with IFRC, the National Headquarters conducted an aerial assessment on 21 February, utilizing helicopter flying hours donated by the Airbus Foundation.
In response to the lack of safe water, PRC deployed a water tanker, two water treatment units and six water bladders together with the personnel from its Cebu, Davao City, Leyte and Zamboanga City chapters to ensure sufficient provision of safe drinking water in the affected areas. The National Society coordinated with the Surigao City Water District in the identification of proper sites to set up the equipment. A total of 2,390 ten-liter jerry cans were also distributed. 157,000 liters of safe drinking water was produced and distributed. This ensured access to safe water for individuals following the disruption of water supply due to damaged pipe lines, loss of power to pump water and contaminated water supplies.
To augment the capacity of Surigao chapter, on 12 February, PRC deployed relief and assessment teams from Bukidnon and Davao City chapters composed of trained National Disaster Response Team (NDRT) and Red Cross Action Team (RCAT) members. These personnel were deployed for a month in Surigao del Norte. For the distribution of food and non-food items, kindly see below table.