OCHA Situation Report No. 3
Afghanistan - Earthquake
26 March 2002


Situation

1.  A series of earthquakes, with the strongest one measuring 6.0 on the
Richter Scale, hit Afghanistan in the evening of 25 March and early
morning 26 March 2002. The epicenter of the earthquake was located
southeast of Nahrin district, Baghlan province. According to initial
estimates, the town of Nahrin has been seriously affected. The old center
of Nahrin has been very seriously damaged. In new Nahrin and surrounding
villages 50-80% of buildings are estimated to have been damaged with many
houses fully destroyed. Local authorities reported that 500 people had
already been buried, while 230 unburied bodies were counted during the
day. The number of accounted for casualties may significantly increase in
the coming days.

2.  Planning estimates of displaced or homeless families towards
mid-afternoon 26 March were based on a figure of 7,000 families. According
to UNOCHA staff in the affected area, an estimated 20,000-30,000 families
were observed staying outside of their homes well after dusk, indicating
the need to reassess assistance requirements in the morning of 27 March.
Another strong tremor occurring in Nahrin Tuesday evening local time
underscored the need for fresh damage and needs assessments in the
following days.

3.  Water assessments have been carried out by actors on the ground. One
water source in the mountains to the east of Nahrin has been blocked by
the quake. However, other nearby water sources have been identified as
sufficient to meet needs. For the moment, water may not be a primary
concern.

4.  Assistance partners were not able to assess the situation in Burhka,
where damage was identified from the air earlier in the day.  Access
problems also impeded any assessment to be conducted south of Nahrin
towards the epicenter of the quake.


International and National Response

5.  The response is being coordinated by the Afghanistan Interim Authority
(AIA), which set up a number commissions led by the Minister of
Reconstruction dealing with statistics, housing, health, distribution,
transport, finance and security.  These commissions will be working out a
plan for a coordinated response in the next hours and days.

6.  At 6:25 p.m. local time today, a multi sector assessment team was
deployed in two ISAF CH 47 helicopters. The team consisted of 12 military
staff, one UNICEF staff, two staff from ACTED (NGO) and three DFID
disaster response staff. An emergency operations office unit was
transported to Nahrin and set up at arrival. A WHO emergency medical kit
was also provided to the local hospital.

7.  In Kabul, a 24 hour emergency operations center has been set up in the
UN Coordinator's Office compound. Satellite telephone links have been
provided by ISAF, ICAO and UNSMA.  UNOCHA and AIMS collaborate on
receiving and aggregating information on available emergency stocks, the
production of situation reports and the provision of seismic and physical
maps of the affected province.

8.  A second emergency meeting was convened at 9 p.m. in Kabul today and
was briefed through a teleconference link by the RCO for Mazar reporting
from the Nahrin Emergency Operations Centre.  The following information
was provided:

9.  The medical response in the district is being coordinated by the
Minister of Health, who has been on location since earlier today. MSF is
present in the disaster site with a field clinic. It has provided medical
supplies to the local hospital, and will be deploying mobile clinics in
the coming hours.

10.  In terms of transportation, a major priority tomorrow will be to make
helicopters available, both for conducting rapid needs and damage
assessments, as well as for moving commodities to the area. The UN has
contacted ISAF for air support. WFP will be flying three rotations to
carry commodities into Nihran from Mazar on Wednesday, and will use the
opportunity to conduct areal assessments of the region.  ISAF is offering
a C130 commodity airlift capacity from Kabul to Mazar, and a helicopter
shuttle service to lift commodities to the affected region.

11.  The following emergency items were identified as priorities: shelter,
food, non-food items, particularly blankets and jerry cans. Expectations
are that these and other commodities are available in-country and within
the region.  Two road convoys are on their way to Nahrin from Mazar and
should be arriving around midnight. WFP provided 158 MTs of mixed foods on
Tuesday, and will provide another 390 MTs on Wednesday. UNICEF has carried
out a first distribution of non-food items including blankets and clothing
from Mazar, and will provide more items from Peshawar on Wednesday. By
Wednesday, ACTED will provide additional 2,000 tents to the area.

12.  On Wednesday morning, the Chairman of the AIA, Mr. Hamid Karzai, the
Director of the Afghanistan Assistance Coordination Agency, Mr. Ashraf
Ghani, and the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General, Mr.
Nigel Fisher, will be visiting the area.

13.  Another inter-agency emergency meeting will be held at 10 a.m. (local
time) on Wednesday in Kabul.

14.  OCHA-Geneva will deploy an UNDAC team to the affected area as soon as
possible. In addition, OCHA will be in a position to make available am
Emergency Grant with a total value of US$ 100,000 for priority needs
identified on the ground.

15.  OCHA is in close contact with UNOCHA Offices in Afghanistan and will
revert with further information, as it becomes available.

16.  OCHA is prepared to serve as a channel for cash contributions to be
used for immidiate relief assisstance, in coordination with relavent
organizations in the United Nations system. For banking details please
contact the desk officers indicated below. OCHA provides donor governments
with written confirmation and pertainent details concerning the
utilization of the funds contributed.

17.  This situation report, together with further information on ongoing
emergencies, is also available on the OCHA Internet Website at
http://www.reliefweb.int. A map showing the sites of the two earthquakes
can be found on the Website of the Afghanistan Information Management
Service (AIMS) at http://www.hic.org.pk.


Telephone: +41-22-91712 34
Fax: +41-22-917 00 23
E-mail: ochagva@un.org

In case of emergency only: Tel. +41-22-917 20 10

Desk Officers:
  Mr. Ivo Freijsen, Mr. Anvar Munavvarov
  Direct Tel. +41-22-917 1695/1669

Press contact:
  (GVA)  Ms. Elizabeth Byrs, direct Tel. +41-22-917 26 56
  (NYC)  Ms. Phyllis Lee, direct Tel. +1-212-963 48 32


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