South Asia earthquake
The disaster
On Saturday 8 October 2005, at 0852h. (0452h Brussels time),
the northern parts of Pakistan (North-West Frontier province
and Pakistan-run Kashmir) and India (India-run Kashmir) as
well as North-West Afghanistan were hit by an earthquake of
7.6 magnitude (Richter scale). More than 15 aftershocks followed
during that week-end. The epicentre was located 95 km north
of the capital of Pakistan (Islamabad) in a mountainous area.
The death toll as stated by the Pakistani authorities stood
at more than 73,000 and 3.5 million people were initially
made homeless.
Chronology
Following the automatic alert of the earthquake on 8 October,
the Monitoring and Information Centre
(MIC) immediately established contact with the then UK
Presidency to assess the situation and was communicating with
the countries participating in the
Community Civil Protection Mechanism from thereon. The
Mechanism was formally activated on Sunday 9 October at 1015h
Brussels time following an official appeal for international
assistance from Pakistan.
Aid sent
In total, 25 of the Mechanism states offered assistance
in the form of food, blankets, medicine, medical teams, search
and rescue or other experts, supplies or cash. A number of
European search and rescue teams were deployed as part of
the first phase of the relief operation.
An EU co-ordination team was set up headed by an expert
from the UK, and included two members from France. They were
supported by a further official from the MIC. The team was
appointed to co-ordinate European civil protection efforts
on the ground.
The MIC monitored the civil protection needs and resources
on the following days to ensure that European relief efforts
remained effective throughout the operation. It was subsequently
closed on 20 October 2005.
In addition assistance was delivered on a bilateral basis
by France, Denmark, Germany and the United Kingdom.
Added value
The MIC aimed to guarantee accurate and updated information
on the unfolding emergency to the participating states.
This aided national headquarters and teams in Pakistan in
responding more efficiently to the emergency. For instance
the EU co-ordination team's cooperation with UN “clusters”
on health, food, water and other basic amenities was extremely
helpful. Using the MIC as a communications and co-ordination
hub cut down on the administrative burden of liaising with
each European donor state individually that would otherwise
have fallen to the local authorities, and ensured aid could
rapidly be found where available.
MIC activity during the south Asia earthquake
- Nearly 600 emails and telephone calls handled during
the initial phase of the emergency
- 18 messages broadcast to all participating states
- Detailed and updated reports of assistance provided
throughout the emergency
- MIC officer sent onsite to support co-ordination team
- The EU civil protection co-ordination team ensured proper
handover to humanitarian aid actors once the civil protection
phase was over
Lessons learnt
The Mechanism on the whole worked well during the emergency
in Pakistan, however it highlighted some issues which needed
further improvement. Following the south east Asian tsunami
of 2004, proposals has already been put forward in a Commission
Communication. These developed into a Commission proposal
for the
recast of the legislation governing the Mechanism.
In January 2006, the Commission also organised a lessons
learnt meeting on the Pakistani emergency. A number of points
were raised by the participants including:
- EU civil protection co-ordination teams should be larger
- The Mechanism needs more visibility on the site of the
disaster
- More need for two-way communication between the
EU civil protection co-ordinators and intervention teams
on the ground
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