Situation Report No: 2 Date: Feb 27, 2008 Mentawai Earthquakes February 25-26, 2008 The Mentawai Islands Regent is considering declaring a state of emergency in the region as the extent of the loss of live and destruction from this week’s earthquakes slowly emerges. SurfAid E-Prep Field Manager has joined a government assessment team which is currently in the North Pagai area. While the government has acted quickly to open a disaster response command post in the southern capital of Sikakap, information from the surrounding villages and hamlets is only just now starting to trickle in, hampered by a lack of communication and heavy seas. A report from Saumanganyak Village in North Pagai says 2 people have died here. A 13-year-old boy (Ridwan) was killed when part of the primary school building collapsed. A 2-year-old girl (Rosnilda) has died after evacuating the village. She was suffering from severe diarre. According to the report lodged by village authorities today (Feb 27), dozens of houses have been badly damaged and 50% of all houses are now uninhabitable. The majority of the 233 families have fled the village to higher ground. Immediately after the spate of earthquakes on February 25 and 26, which measured in intensity up to 7.2 on the Richter Scale, reports from the main affected towns of Sioban and Sikakap indicated no casualties and limited damage. Following is the latest updated information: Sikakap, North Pagai Sub-District • 17 houses destroyed • 2 people injured • Police station and local bank damaged • Local high school damaged including 2 classrooms destroyed and 4 classrooms badly damaged • At least 200 families have evacuated to the hills behind the town. Sioban, Sipora Sub-District • Serious damage to the junior high school • More than 100 families have evacuated to higher ground. The government is collecting data at disaster response command posts set up in the capital Tuapejat and Sikakap in the south. But the lack of a communications system means that village and hamlet heads need to travel to the central command posts to lodge their reports. High seas are hampering this process. The Mentawai Islands region was hit by 6 sizeable earthquakes on February 25 and 26 generating two local tsunami alerts which were later withdrawn. The earthquakes measured between 4.9 and 7.2 on the Richter Scale and were located near the strait that divides Sipora and North Pagai. The February quakes come just five months after the devastating September 2007 earthquakes which resulted in a major humanitarian response by SurfAid International and other organizations. Scientists have warned that these latest earthquakes could be the prelude to even more powerful earthquakes in the region.