UNITED NATIONS TEAM ARRIVES AT MOROCCAN QUAKE SITE

UNITED NATIONS TEAM ARRIVES AT MOROCCAN QUAKE SITE

(Reissued as received.)

GENEVA, 25 February (OCHA) -- A United Nations Disaster and Coordination Assessment (UNDAC) team has arrived in Morocco after a powerful earthquake killed more than 550 people in northern part of the country near the coastal city of Al Hoceima.  The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) dispatched the six-member team.

Following consultations with Moroccan authorities, the six-member team will support the efforts of the Government, United Nations country team and local authorities in responding to needs.  The team will coordinate on-site search-and-rescue activities and will assess immediate needs of the affected population.

OCHA is also organizing a shipment of relief goods, including cold climate blankets and water and sanitation supplies, from the World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse in Brindisi, Italy.

The earthquake of magnitude 6.5 occurred in the Mediterranean Sea, close to the Moroccan port city Al Hoceima at 2:27 a.m. on 24 February.  There was a subsequent aftershock of magnitude 4.1 at 11:04 a.m. the same morning.

A number of villages in the outskirts of Al Hoceima have been badly hit.  The villages of Ait Kamra, Tamassint and Imzourn, where most of the inhabitants live in mud structures, are said to be worst hit, and the death toll is said to be more than 550 people, which may rise further.

The Moroccan Protection Civile and the Moroccan Royal Army have been conducting the first search-and-rescue operations.  Additionally, the Moroccan Red Crescent (MRC) is providing immediate relief assistance.  The IFRC and the MRC have mobilized over 200 staff and volunteers and dispatched relief items, including 2,000 blankets and 100 tents.  The IFRC says that blankets, tents, clothing, and jerry cans are urgently needed.

The IFRC has allocated CHF 75,000 to start the relief operation and has already dispatched a Field Assessment and Coordination Team (FACT) that is conducting an assessment today.

France, Spain, Austria, Italy, and Luxemburg, among others, have sent search-and-rescue teams.  Belgium has one C-130 with power generator about to leave.  Another flight with blankets and medicine will follow.

For further information, please call:  Stephanie Bunker, OCHA New York, tel.: 917 367 5126, mobile: 917 892 1679; Elizabeth Byrs, OCHA Geneva, tel.: 41 22 917 2653, mobile: 41(0) 79 473 4570.

* *** *