Colombia: Earthquake - OFDA-06: 26-Feb-99
U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
BUREAU FOR HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE (BHR)
OFFICE OF U.S. FOREIGN DISASTER ASSISTANCE (OFDA)
Colombia - Earthquake
Fact Sheet #6, Fiscal Year 1999 February 26, 1999
Background: On January 25, 1999 at 1:19 p.m. EST, the epicenter of an
earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter Scale struck central Colombia.
More than thirty aftershocks occurred, with the largest registering
between 5.5 and 5.6 on the Richter Scale. The Government of Colombia
declared 20 municipalities as disaster zones. All are located in the
departments of Quindio, Risaralda, Valle, Tolima, and Caldas. The hardest
hit areas include the cities of Armenia and Calarce in the Department of
Quindio, and the city of Pereira in the Department of Risaralda.
Numbers Affected: The Colombian Red Cross now reports a total of 1,171
confirmed deaths and 4,765 injuries. Furthermore, the Colombian Center
for the Study of Social Development (CENDES) calculates that 425,000
people are affected, including 35,000 families or approximately 150,000
people who have been left homeless as a result of the earthquake. The
Colombian Red Cross also reports that some 45,000 houses were either
destroyed or damaged.
Current Situation: The USAID/OFDA assessment team initially identified
food, water, and shelter as the most immediate disaster needs. In the
week following the earthquake, tremendous progress was made in the
delivery of food and water as a result of the coordinated efforts of the
national government, Colombian Red Cross, the private sector, and
international donors. As a result, there is an ample supply and adequate
distribution of food and water (and emergency medical assistance), leaving
shelter as the principle need. Of the 35,000 displaced families,
approximately one-third has left or is in the process of leaving the area
to reside with friends and family, another one-third continues to live in
partially damaged homes, and a final one-third are in need of temporary
shelter. Following discussions with Colombian government ministers, the
Colombian presidential delegate overseeing relief and reconstruction
efforts, and President Pastrana, USAID/OFDA has agreed to focus its
resources on meeting the medium-term shelter needs of this final category
of persons. Specific plans for this assistance will be based upon
continuing technical assessment and consultations with local and national
governments in Colombia.
Infrastructure: In Armenia, the worst affected city, the Pan American
Health Organization estimated that 175 buildings were destroyed (including
the police station and fire department) and that 15 neighborhoods were
significantly damaged. Assessments by USAID/OFDA field personnel
similarly indicate that approximately 65% of the city's structures were
destroyed or damaged beyond repair. Immediately following the earthquake,
two-thirds of Armenia was without electricity. However, electricity
services have now been re-established. Although roads in and around the
city were damaged, much progress has been made to remove rubble and clear
the streets. USAID/OFDA field personnel report a similar situation in
Calarca, the second most damaged city. Here, as in Armenia, an estimated
65% of the building structures are destroyed or damaged beyond repair.
And, although the power network was damaged, repairs have now been made.
Food: The Government of Colombia committed to provide 150 tons of food
aid to disaster areas per day, and the Colombian Red Cross is operating 30
distribution centers. With assistance provided by other Red Cross
Societies, including the American Red Cross (ARC), the Colombian Red Cross
will continue distributing pre-packaged family rations that include rice,
beans, oil, powdered milk, canned tuna, flour, and other commodities. The
ARC is preparing food baskets locally to supplement other government
sponsored food distribution programs. In addition, donations of food from
major supermarket chains, other private sector businesses, and private
individuals throughout Colombia continue to pour into the region. Private
trucking companies have donated transportation to distribution points in
affected areas. Receipt and distribution of these donations is being
coordinated by the Colombian Government's Red de Solidaridad (Solidarity
Network).
Water: Municipal water service is quickly being restored to the affected
areas. As of February 3, the Director of Public Services in Armenia
reported that 80% of the city's water service had been restored. In
addition, the city's water treatment facility suffered no damage and is
operating at full capacity. Where water service has not been restored,
water trucks are making regular distributions. The Government of
Colombia, other municipal governments, private sector organizations, and
NGO are providing sufficient supplies of potable water to the affected
areas. With assistance provided through a USAID/OFDA grant, the Pan
American Health Organization (PAHO) is assisting in providing chlorinated
and potable water. Additionally, the ARC is providing 20 water storage
bladders to further enhance distribution to affected areas.
Health: Though affected, the local capacity to provide essential health
services to the affected population remains intact. Extensive
infrastructure damage did occur to several primary health care clinics and
to the hospital in the city of Calarca. Although the hospital in Calaraca
suffered extensive damage, there are no reported losses to medical
equipment. Four of the approximately ten health clinics in Armenia were
destroyed, but the two hospitals remain operational. Rural health clinics
in the villages of Pijua, Cordoba, Buenavista, and Barcelona were also
destroyed. USAID/OFDA's health specialist in Armenia estimates that the
health system in the affected zone will be restored rapidly.
With the rapid response of private sector actors such as FUNDESCO,
together with the efforts of the Ministry of Health, PAHO, and the Red
Cross, essential health needs are being met. The Colombian Ministry of
Health has established a command post in the affected areas, and Colombian
medical teams are handling the arrival, sorting, labeling, and
distribution of medical supplies. PAHO is supporting the Ministry of
Health in epidemiological surveillance, environmental health, food
control, shelter management, vector control, emergency medical supply
management, and warehouse training. USAID/OFDA support also allowed PAHO
to mount a tetanus vaccination program to protect the population as
thousands of tons of debris left by the earthquake are cleared.
U.S. Government Assistance: U.S. Ambassador to Colombia Curtis W. Kamman
issued a disaster declaration on January 26 in response to the earthquake.
USAID/OFDA immediately deployed a three-person team to Colombia to conduct
damage and needs assessments, coordinate the USG response effort, and
report on the disaster situation. In days following the disaster,
USAID/OFDA's field team in Colombia was augmented by two additional
disaster response specialists. USAID/OFDA's Senior Regional Advisor, who
is based at the regional office in San Jose, Costa Rica, headed the team.
He arrived in Bogota on January 26, and traveled overland to Armenia the
same day, accompanied by a Colombia-based USAID/OFDA health specialist. A
USAID/OFDA information officer arrived in Bogota on January 27, and began
field reporting from the USAID Mission in Bogota. On January 30 and
February 3, two additional disaster response specialist were added to the
team. One is assisting the U.S. Embassy and the USAID Mission with
coordination issues and the other is helping to manage the relief and
rehabilitation effort in Armenia. By February 11, both disaster relief
specialists operating out of Bogota had returned to the United States, and
the Senior Regional Advisor had returned to San Jose, Costa Rica. The
Colombia-based USAID/OFDA health specialist continues to assist the USAID
Mission in Bogota to address post disaster follow-up.
On January 26, a USAID/OFDA-funded, 62-person Miami-Dade search and rescue
(SAR) team arrived in Cali via chartered aircraft, along with 56,000
pounds of support equipment. The estimated transport cost to deploy the
SAR team is $155,000. Upon its arrival, the SAR team immediately
established an emergency operations center in Cali and sent an advance
group to Armenia. Additional members of the SAR team traveled to Armenia
the following day. By noon on January 27, the Miami-Dade team had
integrated itself into the existing SAR effort. Although the Miami-Dade
SAR team did not rescue any survivors, they successfully used technical
equipment to retrieve eight bodies. On January 28, President Pastrana
officially declared the end of the rescue phase. Subsequently, the SAR
team began an orderly demobilization on January 29. By January 30, all
but four members of the SAR team had returned to the United States. Three
of the four remaining SAR team personnel departed Colombia on February 5,
after conducting damage and needs assessments in areas surrounding Armenia
and erecting model shelter structures for displaced populations. The
final SAR team member departed on February 8.
USAID/OFDA also funded the deployment of an eight-person Community
Technical Support Team, comprised of Miami-Dade and Fairfax County SAR
personnel, to advise Colombian officials on ongoing rescue and relief
efforts. This technical assistance team arrived in Bogota on January 28,
but returned to the United States the following day given the completion
of SAR efforts and the demobilization of the 62-person team.
The U.S. Government authorized an initial aid package worth $2 million in
relief supplies and technical assistance. This figure includes $125,000
that USAID/OFDA provided to the USAID Mission in Colombia for the local
purchase and transport of relief supplies and the rental of equipment.
Between January 27 and February 4, USAID/OFDA airlifted the following
relief commodities: 8,000 blankets; 600 rolls of plastic sheeting (enough
to provide temporary shelter material to 6,000 families); 1,980 gallons of
bottled water; 165 cases of meals-ready-to-eat (MREs); and 8,400
humanitarian daily rations (HDRs) to assist in meeting emergency food
needs. USAID Assistant Administrator Hugh Parmer and a USAID/OFDA Science
Advisor accompanied USAID/OFDA's initial flight of relief supplies to
Bogota and then accompanied the supplies onward to Armenia. Both
individuals departed Colombia on January 29. The bottled water and MREs
were donated by the Fairfax County Fire Department at an approximate cost
of $20,000. The cost of the HDRs was $34,128 and was met by the U.S.
Department of Defense. The total estimated cost to USAID/OFDA for the
purchase of the blankets and plastic sheeting, and the transport of these
and the other relief items is $546,505.
USAID/OFDA plastic sheeting was provided to persons unprotected by heavy
rains immediately following the earthquake. USAID/OFDA technical
assistance and plastic sheeting was also used to construct community
kitchens and day care facilities in Barcelona, Buenavista, Pijao, and
Armenia. The day care facilities will allow parents to resume their
livelihoods and the food kitchens will ensure that the most affected
populations are receiving adequate supplies of food for immediate
consumption. All USAID/OFDA-erected community food kitchens will be run
by local organizations. USAID/OFDA plastic sheeting is also being
provided to small coffee producers for the repair of homes and processing
facilities, allowing coffee production to resume. Additionally,
USAID/OFDA provided PAHO $250,000 in support of earthquake-related health
activities.
From January 31 through February 2, a Texas Air National Guard-crewed
C-130 flew a total of eight sorties between Bogota and Armenia, delivering
a total of 79 MTs of relief supplies and transporting 16 passengers. The
air bridge was discontinued after three days, given the availability of
road transport.
Currently, USAID/OFDA is in the process of designing a series of
rehabilitation and disaster mitigation activities. These activities will
focus primarily on shelter reconstruction and the appropriate use and
maintenance of indigenous construction materials. Efforts are also
underway to provide technical support to local government efforts to
improve hazard mapping and its linkages to land-use planning in the city
of Armenia. The anticipated cost of these rehabilitation and disaster
mitigation activities is estimated at approximately $1 million.
USAID/OFDA Assistance Provided to Date . . . . . . . . . $1,076,505
USAID/OFDA has authorized an initial aid package worth $2 million in
relief supplies and technical assistance, which is in addition to expenses
incurred as a result of the SAR Team deployment. To date, $1,076,505 of
that amount have been committed to the relief effort.
Public Donation Information for Victims of the Colombia Earthquake:
Disasters often generate an outpouring of interest and concern by the
American people which lead to spontaneous collections of relief supplies,
including food, clothing, medical supplies, and the like. In the interest
of effective coordination of such public response, we encourage concerned
citizens to provide monetary donations to appropriate organizations.
USAID encourages the public to contact directly those private voluntary
organizations (PVOs) that are currently working in Colombia, or with local
affiliates, to provide monetary donations. A list of PVOs may be obtained
by contacting InterAction at 202-667-8227, ext. 106, or via the internet
at www.interaction.org. Those interested in providing specific relief
services or supplies should contact (VITA) for information and guidelines. VITA can be reached at
703-276-1914, or via the internet at www.cidi.org.
The ability to transport relief supplies is limited by infrastructure
damage, making it difficult to move supplies into the affected country.
We need to be sure that our first response efforts are focused on the
immediate crisis and reach individuals in the most urgent need. It is
essential, therefore, that donations be prioritized to meet the needs of
the crisis. Unfortunately, the U.S. Government does not have the capacity
to pay to move donated goods or volunteers.
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Disaster Information Center lists: listproc@vita.org
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web: www.cidi.org appeal fireline
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Colombia: Earthquake - http://www.cidi.org/colombia.htm