INDONESIA EARTHQUAKE UPDATE:
CRS FERRIES & FLIES SUPPLIES, PERSONNEL TO NIAS ISLAND

MEDAN, Indonesia -- Catholic Relief Services is sending about a dozen medical personnel and medical supplies today to attend to the injured on the island of Nias, the area closest to the epicenter of two earthquakes that rocked Indonesia and parts of Southeast Asia yesterday.

A large ferry carrying 1,000 emergency family kits containing cooking utensils, blankets, mats and other basic needs, also was dispatched from Banda Aceh last night to Nias and is expected to arrive later today (early morning Indonesia).

“The greatest needs right now are medical aid, food and basic supplies,” reported Pat Johns, CRS director for security and emergency services and the director of relief and reconstruction operations in Indonesia. “We need to attend to the injured who have survived the quakes. The physical devastation is heavy with reports of up to 70 percent of structures either damaged or collapsed.”

More CRS personnel will continue to travel to the island to conduct thorough assessments. The first shift of medical and emergency personnel will take a heavy lift helicopter from Medan to the island later today.

With tsunami relief operations underway over the last three months, CRS and other agencies were able to respond within hours of the two earthquakes. Well-established partners were also providing reports on immediate needs, allowing CRS to quickly shift supplies to the island.

All 150 staff in Aceh Province have been accounted for after personnel evacuated CRS offices, staff housing and hotels after the earthquakes struck. CRS has been operating in Banda Aceh, Meulaboh and Medan since the December tsunami.

Electricity has been cut in some areas and the extent of damage on Nias is still uncertain. Early reports in Banda Aceh and Meulaboh indicate little damage. There have been reports of up to 1,000 deaths on the Island of Nias, where CRS is working with partners, but fuller assessments both on the island as well as through Aceh Province will continue to take place over the coming days.

The recent quakes have taken an emotional toll on those who survived the catastrophic tsunami in December. Even in Sri Lanka, where the quake did not register, people in the coastal areas evacuated to camps CRS had initially set up in the aftermath of the tsunami.

BACKGROUND
CRS so far has received more than $126 million in donations, allowing the agency to expand original program plans to $150 million. The agency’s response to the Dec. 26 tsunami is concentrated in India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand. CRS continues to be a leading agency in both the emergency and recovery phases of the tsunami response.

Working closely with governments, international agencies and other private voluntary organizations, CRS is providing a range of short- and long-term programs to improve the lives of people affected by the tsunami. Key activities include providing short-term and long-term shelter; revitalizing market structures; strengthening the operations of local humanitarian organization partners; repairing and rebuilding infrastructure such as bridges, schools and community buildings; trauma recovery; reestablishing occupations and livelihoods; and building programs to protect vulnerable children and women from all forms of exploitation. For more information on recovery efforts, go to www.CatholicRelief.org .