LONDON (AlertNet) - As the Algerian death toll climbed after an earthquake measuring 6.7 rocked northern Algeria, governments and organisations sent rescue teams and funds, and the Red Cross movement launched a preliminary appeal.
"It was strong and shallow -- the kind of earthquake that creates a lot of damage," said Iain Logan, and operations manager for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC).
The initial tremor on the evening of May 21 was followed by a replica measuring 5.6. "That's a big aftershock," Logan said.
"They think they might have got up most of the easily recoverable survivors, but there's obviously more there."
Logan said that as more information had arrived, the IFRC had upgraded its initial assessment of the earthquake from modest to quite big.
IFRC press officer Ray Probert told AlertNet that the Algerian Red Crescent was on the ground. "They were on the scene pretty quickly. They've had these kinds of disasters in the past."
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that the earthquake had destroyed several buildings in Bab el Oued, a working class district of Algiers that was heavily affected by severe floods in November 2001 that killed almost 600 people.
The Algerian Red Crescent was participating in search and rescue work, first aid and taking injured people to hospital, Probert said.
They were also mobilising people to donate blood, after the Algerian government called on the population to do this.
Search and rescue teams were dispatched from France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey.
INTERNATIONAL OFFERS
Médicos del Mundo -- the Spanish branch of Doctors of the World -- said that its French counterpart Médecins du Monde had sent a team of two doctors and a logistician to Algeria. It would also medical and sanitation supplies.
The European Commission Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO) reported that Belgium had also offered its services.
British AlertNet member International Rescue Corps said that 23 of its members had flown to Algeria as part of a British team of about 60.
Probert said the German Red Cross was preparing to send a three-man search and rescue team with sniffer dogs, and the French and Spanish Red Cross had made delegates available.
OCHA said it had put a U.N. Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team on standby and made available an emergency grant of 50,000 dollars.
Caritas Germany said it was giving 100,000 euros as emergency aid.
The IFRC launched a preliminary appeal for $1.5 million to assist earthquake victims. It said: "Under the proposed operation, the Algerian Red Crescent will provide shelter and distribute food and other relief items for at least 10,000 people, as well as providing pyschological support to the traumatised population."
Logan said that efficient coordination was extremely important. "There are a number of major disaster response teams that are flying in and we have had to stand down some Red Cross teams because there are already going to be more teams arriving on the site than we can handle. There may be an overresponse because the governments are already sending their own teams."
International governmental support would be coordinated by the Algerian government, Probert said, while the Red Cross and Red Crescent would coordinate its members.
He said an IFRC team would help the Algerian Red Crescent with coordination. "International coordination is quite specialised, and most national societies become very quickly overloaded with the demands."
He said this technique was working successfully in response to floods in Sri Lanka. "We're using both regional teams from national societies in the region and international teams from the secretariat (in Geneva) and linking up with groups like UNDAC and OCHA."
COORDINATION CHALLENGE
Logan said that floods in Algeria in 2001 had shown up flaws at that time in the country's coordination mechanisms.
"It was the first major disaster they'd had for years."
He said that the government's security concerns, although valid, had complicated the emergency response. "The security element made everybody hypersensitive," he said.
Logan said: "There has to be an overall political understanding of what we do, and then there has to be enough communication."
He said the Algerian communications system had almost completely broken down because of the earthquake and damage in Algiers. "It's extremely difficult to get faxes out and the cellphone system is overloaded."
AlertNet member Action for Churches Together said it was trying to contact the Protestant Church of Algeria, but this was proving difficult because of disruption to communications.
Logan said Red Crescent volunteers were already beginning to turn their attention from search and rescue to dealing with shelter needs.
He said that the IFRC estimated that around 10,000 people could be in need of shelter, either because their houses had been destroyed or because they would be too cautious to stay at home until they were sure of their safety.
Logan said the Algerian Red Crescent had distributed blankets pre-position in disaster preparation stocks in the area.
"We need to bring in the right stuff, not just anything," Logan said.
He said the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement would provide shelter, blankets, tents, water and probably generators. "We need to stabilise them, get them under cover, get them fed and then we will look at the longer term in a few days."
SHELTER
"Shelter may not be exclusively tents," he told AlertNet. He said that in the urban environment, there might be temporary safe houses that could be used.
"There's a reluctance to do that in the first part following an earthquake, because no one can be absolutely certain how safe the houses are," Logan said.
State media urged people to go outdoors and stay away from buildings.
Probert said an IFRC evaluation team was on its way. "They'll be evaluating damage and needs."
Logan said that IFRC staff holding Algerian passports had travelled already, with satellite communication capacity. Another group was on its way via Tunisia, to obtain visas when crossing the border from there.
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