* Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Alert
Nicaragua
Earthquakes in Nicaragua
Geneva, 16 April 2014
1. Brief description of the emergency and impact
From 10 April 2014, a series of earthquakes, 3 of them with magnitudes from 6.2 to 6.6, have hit Nicaragua, the last one was felt on 14 April in the morning. Dozens of aftershocks have been reported including 15 quakes registering magnitudes from 3.0 to 5.0, according to the government’s monitoring system. The Civil Defense and the National System for Disaster Prevention (SINAPRED) is reporting 266 injured people, one dead woman, more than 800 people in shelters and 2,354 houses damaged and 75 among them totally collapsed. Most of the people are showing anxiety and fear. The most affected municipalities are Nagarote and La Paz, in the central south side of the country and Mateare near Managua, the capital city. Social infrastructures like schools and hospitals have been seriously damaged.
2. Why is an ACT response needed?
ACT response is needed because there are people from the poorest areas without any assistance to face the severe damage on infrastructure and their deteriorating mental health due the frequent aftershocks.
3. National and international response
The government has issued a red alert and the Civil Defense has deployed staff in order to support the local communities with prevention measures, including evacuating families living in vulnerable areas in Managua. The government is starting also a rehabilitation program.
Governments like Venezuela, Brazil and Ecuador, have offered aid in terms of non food items, hygiene kits and health care. Cuba has deployed experts in seismology and volcanologist to support the scientific research. The UN System has announced a technical and financial support, while the Humanitarian Network is monitoring information and preparing a preliminary assessment of needs and damages with wide participation of international and national NGOs.
4. ACT Alliance response
The ACT Nicaragua Forum met twice to share first assessments and make decisions on how to respond in a coordinated manner with other actors. An assessment team was deployed in Nagarote and Mateare. The ACT forum will share their assessment report with the government and the Humanitarian Network.
5. Planned activities
The ACT forum is planning to request support from the Alliance for food aid and NFI, personal hygiene kits, psychosocial support and roofing rehabilitation, based on the preliminary assessments.
6. Constraints
No constraints identified until now.
-----------------------------------
Any funding indication or pledge should be communicated to Jean-Daniel Birmele, Director of Finance (jbi@actalliance.org)
