PARIS, Feb 28 (AFP) - The United States and Europe vowed to come to Chile's aid as relief workers rushed to the Western hemisphere's second enormous earthquake in seven weeks.
But the Latin American country, reeling from the deaths of at least 300 people and a trail of destruction caused by Saturday's 8.8-magnitude quake, appealed for foreign donors to wait until the scale of the task is clear.
"We are very grateful for people's good intentions, but let's let the (Chilean) emergency office get its very specific report on needs done," Foreign Minister Mariano Fernandez told reporters.
Chile does not want "aid from anywhere to be a distraction" from disaster relief, he said. "Any aid that arrives without having been determined to be needed really helps very little."
At least 1.5 million homes were damaged in the pre-dawn quake, roads were torn up and buildings reduced to rubble in the nation of 16 million people. The main international airport in the capital Santiago suffered heavy damage.
Much of Santiago was plunged into darkness. The country's second largest city, Concepcion, south of the capital, was near the epicenter of one of the largest quakes on record.
"We anticipate the situation in the worst-affected areas closer to the epicentre to be much more serious," said Pete Garratt, the disaster relief manager for Britain's Red Cross.
"Our fear is that this quake will have had large-scale impact."
UN chief Ban Ki-moon is "very closely monitoring developments, including the risk of Pacific Rim tsunamis, after the huge earthquake in Chile," his office said. A Pacific-wide tsunami alert was lifted, but Japan and Russia were still braced for super-sized waves.
US President Barack Obama pledged to meet any request for help from Chile, while the European Union offered three million euros (four million dollars) in immediate aid.
The United States "stands ready to assist in the rescue and recovery efforts, and we have resources that are positioned to deploy should the Chilean government ask for our help", Obama said in a televised address.
Spain, which holds the EU's rotating six-month presidency, offered to help coordinate relief efforts once the damage and requirements are assessed.
The Madrid government said it was "prepared to offer, as in the case of Haiti, all its available capabilities in the region to provide a coordinated response to this new disaster that has rocked a friendly and brother country".
Unlike impoverished Haiti, which was pulverized by an earthquake last month, Chile is one of Latin America's wealthiest countries.
Nevertheless international aid charities said they were dispatching experts to Chile but predicted that the devastation would be far lower than in Haiti, where the January 12 quake killed 200,000 people.
British charity Oxfam said it was sending five water engineers and logistics experts from Chile to Colombia.
Disaster relief charity ShelterBox said it was mobilising an initial response team from Britain and the United States, and the Swiss government said it too was deploying an assessment team to Chile.
The US group Mobile Giving Foundation enlarged a cellphone donation drive that has so far raised 41 million dollars for Haiti.
By texting the word "Chile" to a five-digit phone number, Americans and Canadians can give five or 10 dollars to groups including Habitat for Humanity, the Salvation Army or World Vision, it said.
European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso announced in Brussels that the EU's executive arm was sending three million euros in fast-track aid to Chile.
"I am deeply shocked at the extent of the devastation that is emerging," Barroso said, as European leaders joined Obama in sending heart-felt condolences and offers of assistance to Chile.
"The people of Chile are in agony today but Britain stands ready to help. We will do whatever we can," said British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, while French President Nicolas Sarkozy expressed his "deep emotion".
The World Bank said it stood ready to "draw on its considerable expertise in catastrophe management and reconstruction" to support Chile.
Source:MySinchew 2010.02.28
Showing posts with label All over the island. Show all posts
Showing posts with label All over the island. Show all posts
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Tsunami sweeps across Pacific after powerful Chile quake
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued the first tsunami warning at 0644 GMT, 10 minutes after the Chile quake. It was upgraded to a Pacific-Ocean-wide warning at 1043 GMT.
FRENCH POLYNESIA
In Hiva Oa in the north of French Polynesia, residents reported at least four big waves pushing in and the sea again retreating, Radio New Zealand International reported on Sunday.
Several waves have also passed other islands in French Polynesia without causing any major damage.
RFO radio in Papeete reported that a wave less than one meter high has passed the east of the Gambier islands.
In Rikitea on the island of Mangareva, several smaller waves are reported to have passed, ranging from 50 to 80 centimeters in height.
In Rapa, the sea was reported to drop and rise about every 30 minutes.
On Tahiti, only small waves were registered.
All road traffic closer than 500 meters to the shore has been forbidden, with police enforcing roadblocks.
People are advised to seek ground at least 10 meters high.
An Air Tahiti Nui plane due to arrive in Papeete from Tokyo has been diverted to Hawaii.
In the Cook Islands, people have moved inland.
Higher ground near the hospital on Rarotonga was already crowded as people fled the predicted impact zone.
Source:
Hawaii News – tsunami alert sent all over the island
Sources like MSNBC and Hawaii News etc report that the Pacific Tsunami Cautionary Centre has warned the Hawaii islands that a tsunami may affect the coastlines of the islands. It is the highest alert level that is sent to Hawaii and it is declared that alarms will be rung when if high waves are predicted to hit the regions within three hours.
It is also reported by the Ewa Beach tsunami centre that tsunami might come at around 11:19AM on Saturday 27th February 2010.
Tsunami alerts have also been warned in regions of the Pacific islands, Russia, Philippines, Japan, New Zealand, Australia and South America.
Charles McCreery, the director of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, has said that there has to be various things to do within the time left. He assures to take care of all to keep them safe from the evacuation zones. He is not sure of the height of the waves but sure that they would be the largest ever since 1964.
However, the tsunami would take about 14.5hours to reach the Hawaii Island since the earthquake hits. So, there would be enough time to take the precautionary measures.
Still, it is advised to all to be inside their residents and follow the warnings to avoid the worst.
Source:entertainmentandshowbiz.com/
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