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Arlington, Virginia, August 12, 2001 (CIDI) -- On June 23, 2001, an earthquake measuring 8.1 on the Richter Scale, devastated the town of Arequipa, in southern Peru. The earthquake caused damage across the provinces of Arequipa, Ayacucho, Moquegua, and Tacna and was felt in neighboring countries of Bolivia and Chile.
Damage estimates topped $20 million for the region immediately affected.
Upon receiving notification of the disaster, the Center for International Disaster Information (CIDI) immediately contacted the Embassy of Peru, to offer guidance in managing the public response to this emergency. Damage estimates topped $20 million for the region immediately affected by the disaster.
An essential component of the CIDI’s mission is to assist Washington-based embassies and consulates in the event of an emergency in their countries. The first goal is to encourage embassies to develop public response plans before a disaster occurs. The second objective is to raise the embassy’s level of awareness of the problems involved in handling donated commodities from the American public.
The CIDI worked closely with the Embassy’s Political Counselor, and was able to provide information and guidance used by the Emergency’s Emergency Committee, a group established by the Embassy and coordinated by the Peruvian Consulate. Guidelines were transmitted to Ambassador Alzamora in both English and Spanish--information instrumental to the Embassy’s approach to humanitarian response from the American public. Assistance offered to the Embassy came from a variety of sources—including the US government, international institutions, and a number of private voluntary organizations and non-governmental organizations.
The Center reviewed the text of a public message to be posted on the Embassy’s web site, to ensure that the message was accurate and informative. The CIDI was also able to provide guidance in securing transportation of non-emergency relief supplies.
A letter of thanks from Ambassador Carlos Alzamora states:
I want to express my deep appreciation for your valuable cooperation and knowledgeable advice on how to best handle the generous offers of support that we received from the American people and from the Peruvian Community. Your prompt and experienced counseling helped us to avoid inappropriate in-kind donations and to make possible a most effective and useful method to alleviate the suffering of our
victims.
The Center was pleased to have been able to assist the Embassy and the victims of this earthquake during this time.
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