News Report on the Second Strong
Quake in El Salvador and Disaster Relief by Tzu Chi Foundation
Disaster Conditions:
Translated by Mike Lee, Northern California
2001.02.13:
El Salvador again suffered the assault of
another major earthquake that measured 6.1 on the Richter Scale.
The tremor occurred at 8:22 in the morning (10:22pm Taipei time).
This time, the quake lasted about twenty seconds, and it was
centered at 20 kilometers to the southeast of San Salvador.
2001.02.14:
Up until the afternoon of the 14th, the death
toll was said to have climbed to 173 people, with up to 1557
people suffering injuries (CNN). However, there are still many
others missing. The final tally of the victims still needs to
be confirmed.
El Salvador President Francisco Flores' spokesperson
Luis Lopez Portillo indicated that the areas suffering the most
severe devastation are: San Vincente, La Paz, Cuscatlan and
the capital San Salvador. Government officials stated that in
the towns of San Miguel and San Augustine, located in the capital's
suburb, there are also people buried beneath the toppled houses.
2001.02.14:
During his report to President Flores, the
army commander of the disaster region, Col. Juan Amando Reyes
said that 50% of the houses in San Vicente suffered damages,
while in the nearby towns of San Cayetano, Guadeloupe, Verapza,
and Texistepeque, 90% of the houses were damaged.
Tzu Chi Foundation's Current Disaster Relief
Activities and Plans:
1. Medical Segment: About $100,000 worth of
medical supplies have been donated to the hospitals in the Dojudepeque
area, including antibiotics, pediatric medicine, external injury
medicine, emergency kits, and family first aid kits. Presently,
the disaster region critically needs medical personnel. The
branch agencies in the United States have received this news,
and are discussing and preparing feasible solutions.
2. Supplies Segment: 10000 units of food bags
are in plan to be distributed to ten thousand people. Each bag
shall contain a month's worth of food. The food bag includes:
corn flour, red beans, sugar, oil, and salt. Each bag is worth
about $7 and weighs about 25 pounds (approximately 11.25 kilograms).
Currently, 2000 units have been acquired.
1000 units of food bags will be distributed
to 192 families first on February 15th. At the same time, the
military have agreed to assist in the airdrop of 2000 food bags
to disaster areas difficult to reach by road. Also, 3000 units
of pure water sacks have been donated to hospitals, with each
bag being 1 liter in volume.
