Vol. 548 No. 1
88 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the extent to which the Government is contributing to the relief of distress arising from the earthquake in Turkey; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4060/02]
A series of earthquakes, the strongest of which measured 6.2 on the Richter scale, hit the western Turkish province of Afyon on Sunday 3 February. The epicentre was located in the provincial capital Bolvadin. The Turkish authorities have declared that 44 people were killed, a further 300 were injured and structural damage was caused to more than 600 buildings.
The disaster rescue operations have been scaled down with the focus now switching to providing assistance to the survivors. Initial needs assessments indicate a requirement for shelter materials due to the freezing night time conditions. The Turkish Prime Minister has indicated that the survivors will receive the necessary relief supplies with blanket and tent distributions already under way. The Turkish authorities have also dispatched specialised civil defence teams to the area and troops have set up tented accommodation to house the homeless.
The earthquake is significantly less destructive than the earthquake which struck north west Turkey in 1999, which claimed the lives of 18,000 people. At that time the Irish Government allocated €940,000 in humanitarian funding to the disaster relief effort.
The United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, to which Ireland is contributing €600,000 in 2002, will dispatch a disaster assessment team to co-ordinate in the relief effort. While the Turkish Government has not, as yet, requested a major international humanitarian response, Ireland Aid is continuing to monitor developments closely and is awaiting UNOCHA's assessment of needs.
