LONDON (AlertNet) - Two days after an 8.8-magnitude earthquake killed more than 700 people in Chile, the government was scrambling to provide aid to thousands of homeless people in coastal towns devastated by one of the most powerful quakes ever recorded.
Although Chile's earthquake was stronger than the 7.0-magnitude quake that devastated Haiti in January, the death toll was lower thanks in part to Chile's status as a more developed country with better disaster preparedness notably in the quality of its more quake-resistant buildings.
International aid agencies have dispatched disaster relief officials to the Latin American country, and were focusing on assessing humanitarian needs in isolated towns swamped by giant waves triggered by the earthquake. Early reports indicated that many roads and bridges had been damaged or destroyed while communications were down in many areas, complicating efforts to distribute food, water, blankets and jerry cans.
Here's a selection of the most recent developments in the aid world:
The British Red Cross launched an appeal to fund the work of the Chilean Red Cross on Feb. 28. It said much infrastructure had been damaged, and that the most urgently needed items were field hospitals, tents, telecommunications equipment and electric generators.
"We are beginning to get reports of significant damage to roads, bridges, buildings and other infrastructure. Access into some areas is still difficult and aftershocks being additional risks to survivors," Mike Goodhand, British Red Cross head of disaster management, said in a statement.
Catholic charity, Caritas Internationalis, said it had activated a network of parishes and Caritas centres to help distribute emergency aid with some of the first relief being distributed in Maule and Bao Bao, the worst-affected regions.
"We are collecting food to be sent immediately to communities which have been most affected by the earthquake and where shortages are already being reported," said Caritas Chile Director Lorenzo Figueroa in a statement . "Our own communications network and capacity to offer warehouses and points of collection and distribution are immediately available."
Save The Children, which was raising funds to help families affected by the quake, said it was still difficult to know exactly what was happening on the ground since many phone networks were still down. It warned of the danger posed by potential aftershocks and said access could be hampered if roads were blocked by rubble.
"However this is not another Haiti, which is one of the poorest countries in the world. Chile has the resources to be able to respond to this type of disaster and we will support their work in any way we can, focusing on the needs of children," Matt Wingate, head of Save the Children's Chile emergency response, said.
Oxfam, which has deployed a team of water engineers and logisticians from Colombia and senior humanitarian staff from Mexico, also highlighted the difference between the situation in Chile and Haiti.
"Chile is a developed country with a very capable government and while it is unlikely that this disaster will be as severe as what we saw last month in Haiti, we want to be in place to help as soon as possible," Jeremy Loveless, Oxfam's Deputy Humanitarian Director, said.
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