Aid Groups Redeploy from Aceh to Yogyakarta Earthquake Site
Proximity to Mt. Merapi volcano evacuation assists in rapid reaction.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs quickly put out its Situation Report #1 on the response to the Yogyakarta earthquake that happened early Saturday local time (2253 GMT or 6:53 PM EST). The local Red Cross, Palang Merah Indonesia, also issued a report detailing its initial response.
The OCHA report describes the initial national response by Indonesian groups and by the international group, both those based in Jakarta and those in Aceh dealing with tsunami reconstruction. Two groups were already in transit, IMC (International Medical Corps) (EIN 95-3949646 Form 990) and the UK group Merlin (Charity number 1016607 Trustees Annual Report).
The rapid response is assisted by having so many qualified relief groups in place, due to the tsunami reconstruction on the neighboring island of Sumatra and also due to the recent evacuations of the area around newly active Mt Merapi volcano. This Google Maps satellite image shows how close Yogyakarta is to the volcano: the image even captures the steam venting from the caldera. But geologists are saying that the volcano and the earthquake are not directly related.
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