Attachments
Highlights
• A 7.8-magnitude earthquake that occurred on 9 December near Solomon Islands claimed the life of one person and injured another, damaged or destroyed 439 homes and damaged 21 schools and four health clinics, according to initial damage assessments
• The Weather Coast area of Makira Province, southern Malaita Province and eastern Guadalcanal Province were the most severely impacted; Provincial Emergency Response Teams are verifying the severity and scale of the impact
• Distribution of humanitarian assistance has commenced to impacted communities in the Provinces of Makira and Malaita
• To date, UNICEF has provided the following material support: a 1,500-litre collapsible water tank; 3,000 pieces of handwashing soap; 5,000 containers for carrying; 80 water buckets; and, two cartons of purification tablets. UNICEF is supporting the development of key health messages to raise community awareness about earthquake-related health issues and to develop a checklist to mainstream child protection into humanitarian response
• Disaster authorities, partners and stakeholders concurrently are responding to two other emergencies: a 7.9-magnitude earthquake on 17 December near Papua New Guinea affecting the Shortland Islands and flash flooding that occurred late in October