© Ibrahim Malla / IFRC
Last Saturday (11 August 2012), two earthquakes with a magnitude of 6.4 and 6.3 on the Richter scale rocked north-western Iran. At least 180 villages around Ahar, Varzaghan and Heris in East Azerbaijan province have been affected, 21 of which were completely flattened. More than 300 people were killed, and over 3,000 people were injured.
The Iran Red Crescent deployed 92 teams to help with rescue and relief operations. A staggering 1,080 staff and volunteers – backed up by six helicopters, 97 ambulances, 53 relief vehicles, 20 life detector sets and 19 search and rescue dogs – sprang into action.
So far, the Iran Red Crescent has provided 48,370 people with shelter, providing relief tents to over 9,600 of the most vulnerable people. It has also sent:
- almost 34,200 cans of food
- over 1,640 kerosene stoves
- 100 jerry cans
- more than 1,340 kitchen sets
- and over 11,940 blankets.
Iran straddles a major geological fault line, making it prone to seismic activity. In 2003, an earthquake in the city of Bam left more than 25,000 people dead.
The Iran Red Crescent is very well prepared to respond to such emergencies. The National Society in neighbouring Turkey is on standby, and other National Societies around the world have offered to help if needed. The Iran Red Crescent has not requested support from other National Societies.
We are not currently requesting funds for the Iran earthquake. However, if you’d like to help us save lives next time disaster strikes, you can donate to our Disaster Fund.
I’m still not clear on why you are not calling for funds. This post doesn’t directly answer that question. Is it because you already have the resources you need? Thanks so much for clarifying.
Hi Farah, we’re not calling for funds because the Iran Red Crescent has not requested support from other National Societies. Each country has their own National Society, and the British Red Cross would only step in if that National Society needed support in order to meet people’s needs.
The Iran Red Crescent has a lot of experience dealing with this kind of
disaster, and – as you can see from the figures above – they’ve already got hundreds of people on the ground providing relief and recovery. At present, they have everything they need to respond.
That’s great, but this all costs money and will need to be replenished. There’s more than a few libertarian-leaning Americans like myself that want to help and show the Iranians that just like them, WE are not our GOVERNMENT. We care and want to help.
The Red Cross is completely neutral, impartial and non-governmental.
The Iranian Red Crescent is using its own funds to respond to the earthquakes; you’re right in saying that funds will need replenishment but, at the moment, it has been determined that they are capable of managing this without international assistance.
We’ll update you if this situation changes.
Could you kindly provide the source that has provided you with the above information ? Can you verify the authenticity of the figures from other sources like ICRC in Iran? Unfortunately most of the damage has occurred in remote areas where can be reached only by means of air transport and evidently 6 helicopters are not suffice as the authorities claim there are many villagers that haven’t received any attention yet.
The above information is provided by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the Iranian Red Crescent (IRCS).
In any major disaster, the IFRC and the local national society will assess needs and whether help is required through the Red Cross Movement. In this case, it has been determined that the IRCS is capable of meeting needs without external assistance.
For further information, the latest IFRC update on Iran – including IRCS response – can be found here: http://www.ifrc.org/docs/Appeals/12/IB140812IRAN.pdf