Disaster preparedness helped save lives in Indonesia

(New York: 7 March 2007): Local search and rescue efforts were ongoing this morning in affected areas of Indonesia's Sumatra island as the first United Nations inter-agency assessment team arrived in the zone affected by yesterday's 6.3 magnitude tremor.

With Government sources currently revising the death toll downwards from 73 to 52 people, local media in the affected areas are reporting that the disaster preparedness training received by affected communities helped them react to yesterday's earthquake. The National Coordinating Board for the Management of Disaster (BAKORNAS PB) and the United Nations Technical Working Group conducted contingency planning activities in the area in 2006.

Reports also indicated that the power supply, telecommunications network and roads in some areas remain disrupted. Nearly 200 injuries have been recorded, and the number continues to rise, while more than 3,600 homes and 20 schools were damaged. Indonesia is leading the emergency response with support from a number of United Nations agencies, non-governmental organizations, the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement and other Governments.

Free medical services are being provided in affected communities. The Indonesian Ministry of Health has dispatched beds, tents, supplementary food for infants and emergency kits, while the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) has also opened its warehouses in Padang and Jakarta for the response, sending family kits, blankets, tarpaulins, medicines and water purification tablets. The West Sumatra Provincial Health Office has deployed three medical teams to the affected areas. Various private sector entities in West Sumatra are also providing assistance, including food, school supplies, tents, medicine and medical workers, and other relief.

For its part, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) will deliver school tents, water bladders, hygiene kits, cooking sets, water purification tablets, and jerry cans. The World Health Organization (WHO), in close cooperation with the Ministry of Health, is monitoring the health situation and has placed emergency trauma kits and health professionals on standby. NGOs, including Médecins du Monde, Action Contre la Faim, Médecins sans Frontières (Belgium), and Tzu Chi are providing assistance. The Government of the Netherlands, United States, Canada, and Spain, as well as the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid department (ECHO) have also indicated that they will support the response.

The Government of Indonesia continues to mobilize its resources at the national and local levels. At this point, international assistance is not requested, but the Government welcomes the current efforts underway from international actors already on the ground. The United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team, on stand by since yesterday, has now been alerted that its services will not be required.

For further information, please call: Stephanie Bunker, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 5126, mobile +1 917 892 1679; Kristen Knutson, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 9262; Elisabeth Byrs, OCHA-Geneva, +41 22 917 2653, mobile, +41 79 473 4570. OCHA press releases are available at http://ochaonline.un.org or www.reliefweb.int.