April, 18 - 25, 2014

What happened this week?

Tornados damage 200 homes in North Carolina. Residents, meteorologists and emergency officials in eastern North Carolina were surveying the damage Saturday from multiple tornadoes that damaged more than 200 homes the previous day and sent more than a dozen people to the emergency room...Read More

Eruption. Urbinas volcano, Peru. Ubinas volcano. Eruptive activity with a tendency to decrease. Gases and ash constantly emitted, ashfall affecting communities in Lloque and Chojata. Response: Psychological and medical attention posts installed in shelters. Evacuation routes in San Juan de Tarucani prepared... Read More

Earthquake, Mexico. A 7.2 magnitude earthquake with a depth of 10 km, 36 km away from Tecpan de Galeana, in the state of Guerrero, shook a wide area of Mexico on 18 April. The earthquake occurred within the "Guerrero Seismic Gap". It was felt across a half a dozen states and in Mexico City. One hospital in the colony of Ciudad Renacimiento and several hotels in the tourist area of the port were evacuated; blackouts were reported in several cities in Guerrero... Read More.

Wildfire. Valparaiso, Chile. A wildfire, that started on the afternoon of 12 April, affected several hills in the city of Valparaiso, causing fatalities and injuries, prompting the evacuation of thousands of people, and damaging homes. Troops from CONAF, firefighters, PDI, Police, Army, Navy, SAMU and ONEMI were involved in the response and attention to the emergency. One health center was disabled; the rest of the healthcare network is operating... Read More.

Interesting Facts

By 2050, 1.5 billion people will live in cities exposed to major storms and earthquakes, double the number today. For every $100 spent today on official development aid, only 40 cents goes to disaster prevention and preparedness, a sum that is clearly inadequate given the increasing frequency of natural disasters, according to Rachel Kyte, special envoy for climate change at the World Bank... Read More

Report on understanding child-centred urban disaster risk reduction in Asia. The research found that children who work on the streets or in low-income informal settlements are among those most vulnerable to environmental risks, such as natural hazards and climate change, yet there is little provision for young boys and girls in urban disaster risk reduction programmes...Read More

What's new in Disaster Risk Reduction?

New Deadline! May 20, 2014

Latin American and Caribbean Rally: “Schools with a Sustainable Future” Register your school now!  (Watch the video in Spanish and English)

The Rally is a competition that seeks to highlight the best strategies in education, action, and social impact among all schools in Latin America and the Caribbean in the areas of energy efficiency, water management, healthy food production, carbon reduction, and sustainable waste management.

There will be one winner of the "Live with Hope Award: Innovation for Sustainability" for each of the categories, and they will represent Latin America in the 2015 International Green Award in the UK. Additionally, the 10 best proposals in each category will be showcased in the framework of the Meeting of Latin American and Caribbean Leaders in Education, Science, and Technology for Sustainability, to be held November 2014.

The OAS invites all Latin American and Caribbean schools to register, participate, and become the leaders of change that Latin America needs in order to develop sustainably. Register your school now! ... Read More

Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary General: Evidence, experience and aspirations are the basis for Disaster Risk Reduction. Reducing the risks of disasters should be based on evidence and experience and should ultimately lead to a more resilient world for future generations...Read More.

April 11, 2014

What happened this week?
Nicaragua. A magnitude 6.2 earthquake occurred at 5.27 p.m. of 10 April. The epicenter was located at a depth of 10 km in Managua Lake, off the coast of Nagarote. One death, 33 people injured, three of them hospitalized. 700 homes are damaged. There are minor damages in health units in five municipalities. Health services are operational. Oscar Danilo Rosales Hospital has fissures. Response: Activation of contingency plans, evaluation of damage in progress and evaluation of risk zones in Managua and Nagarote. Shelters have been set up... Read More. 

A second earthquake - 6.6 magnitude - occurred on Friday, April 11 afternoon less than 24 hours after a magnitude-6.1 quake rattled Nicaragua... Read More.

Chile. 8.2 Earthquake. Update. 1,829 people in 26 shelters in Tarapacá, Arica and Parinacota. Iquique Hospital is 80% operational, a health center is closed due to flooding and a health post is operational only for emergencies; the rest of the health network is operational. Damages in 11,312 homes in Arica, Parinacota and Tarapacá. Humanitarian aid sent and 97% of water supply and electricity reestablished. Vaccination actions are being strengthened... Read More. 

Interesting Facts
Housing and mainstream disaster risk reduction: Housing Policy, Building codes and regulations, Strengthening and retrofitting, Land use planning, and Disaster risk finance are key readiness factors that influence mainstream disaster risk reduction in the housing sector. Housing is often the sector severely impacted by both hydro-meteorological and geophysical disasters. On a macro scale, housing sector accounts for 10-50% of total disaster losses and often have significant impact on the livelihoods of especially the poor in developing countries... Read More

What's new in Disaster Risk Reduction?

MIT Climate CoLab Contest: How can crowdsourcing provide more efficient disaster risk management? 
Extreme climatic events are expected to increase in the future due to climate change. The challenge then becomes strengthening communities’ resilience to disasters, to prevent hazards from disrupting their normal functioning. Citizen participation through crowdsourcing of information is a promising avenue for the development of new disaster risk management strategies, and this contest seeks proposals that reveal the full potential of crowdsourcing for disaster preparedness, response and recovery... Read More.

Jamaica: The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) to receive $72.9 million for landslide risk reduction project to continue implementing the Community-Based Landslide Risk Reduction project. The project seeks to reduce the risk of natural disasters in vulnerable communities, and to provide an evidence-based toolkit for vulnerability reduction throughout the Caribbean. ... Read More

April, 4, 2014

What happened this week?

Chile. April 1, 2014. Earthquake 8.2M at 38.9 km depth 95km northeast of Iquique caused damage to health and property in northern Chile and southern Peru. A tsunami alert was declared and there was a preventive evacuation of the population.

Update: 294 aftershocks has been reported, the greatest of which was a magnitude 7.6 on April 2. Six deaths, 1,368 people in 13 shelters in Alto Hospicio and Arica. Iquique’s “Ernesto Torres” Regional Hospital has some nonstructural damage, patients are being treated in pavilions at the Campana Hospital. Minister of Health will sign a Sanitary Alert for the Arica-Parinacota and Tarapacá regions in order to better respond to future needs...Read More.

Peru. Ubinas volcano. Seismic energy continues increasing. Furthermore, there are signs of over-pressurization, which can cause moderate explosions. Emissions of gas and ash have been observed up to 2150 m above the crater. Authorities recommend people remain calm and wait for instructions from them...Read More. 

Interesting Facts
Images from NOAA compare the last three major Chilean tsunamis in 1960, 2010 and 2014... Read More.

Building codes saved lives in Chile . Strong enforcement of regulations and the preparation of the Chilean population were a key factor to reduce the number of victims, experts say...Read More

What's new in Disaster Risk Reduction?

Perú. This year, the budget for disaster risk reduction increased by 16%, according the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF). 

From the budget of 820.8 million soles, 640.7 million soles are for preventive measures such as land use planning considering hazards and risks, development of protection infrastructure, implementation of safe schools and hospitals, among others... Read More.