Executive Summary
An earthquake hit Tanzania in September 2016, with a magnitude of 5.9. The damage was disastrous with loss of infrastructure, businesses and a high number of deaths and injuries. There were many issues, some of which still haven't been addressed; with people waiting months for temporary housing and the extreme food insecurities in the region. My recommendations are thus:
The disaster committee needs to cooperate better to ensure that the response is effective and efficient. Responsibilities should be clearly divided between the members and regular communication is essential.
Better education in communities needs to occur to teach people what to do in an earthquake, to reduce the number of deaths and injuries.
An international body should be established in which other charities, not just the Red Cross, are part of. This should enable them to enter the country and help with the relief effort. Not two months after the disaster when the amount of problems had already built up.
On the 10th September 2016, an earthquake of 5.9 magnitude hit the North West of Tanzania. The epicentre was 44km from Bukoba town (Fig.1). The earthquake was caused by a shallow oblique faulting within the lithosphere of the Nubia (Africa) plate (USGS, 2017). It was followed by a light aftershock on the 12th September. Statistics of the disaster are shown in Fig 2.
This earthquake was a shallow earthquake, with the epicentre only 10km below the earths surface. The results of the earthquake were disastrous as the seismic waves had a smaller distance to reach the earth’s surface and thus the shaking was more intense (IFRC, 2016).
Actions taken in advance
Over the past 100 years there has only been one other earthquake recorded within 100km of this earthquake- a 4.3 magnitude earthquake in Lake Victoria in 2013 . Thus there was a severe lack of planning and preparedness in Tanzania, both at a local and a national level (USGS, 2017). The government of Tanzania is known to be very corrupt across all the sections of the economy (Gan Business Anti-Corruption Portal, 2017). Thus even though Tanzania has grown economically from tourism and gold production, 36% of the population of Tanzania are below the poverty line (Opportunity International, 2017). Therefore, there are huge amount of vulnerable members of the population, who are not protected from the impact of earthquakes, hence the amount of deaths and injuries from this disaster. The pressure release model (Appendix 2), where R = H X V, shows that the risk for the population is high due to the high vulnerability. However this model doesn't take into account the various different locations of the population as this would affect their vulnerability and thus their chance of being at risk.
Immediate actions taken
The Tanzania Red Cross Society (TRCS) responded to the disaster by participating in the initial search and rescue and also in the disposal of the dead bodies, it was the only humanitarian organisation that was allowed to provide help from the ground (IFRC, 2016). TRCS Kagera Branch sent 70 volunteers to the areas that were affected. They also provided psychological support for the people effected and emergency first aid assistance to those that were injured (IFRC, 2016). The regional authority in Kagera and the Bukoba Municipality organised the rescue operation and helped to supply emergency assistance to those in need (IFRC, 2016). The Kagera regional hospital ran out of medicines, however private medical practices loaned medical supplies to the government. A health NGO called Jhpiego, which was established in Bukoba donated medical supplies to the Kagera regional hospital (IFRC, 2016). The Tanzanian Prime Minister visited the areas that were affected on the 11th September to talk to the victims and he witnessed the mass burial of the dead. After a report was done on the impacts of the disaster he asked for the support of governments around the world (IFRC, 2016).
Actions taken in weeks/months following the disaster
The IFRC Disaster Relief Emergency Fund gave money to help TRCS provide emergency assistance to help 1,000 families directly and 1,124 families indirectly by providing; housing and medical support, including psychological support. A total of 4,882 people were reached by this psychological support in the months following the disaster (IFRC, 2016). The UK donated over $27 million for the earthquake victims (Shaban, 2016). Money was also received from charities set up to help the disaster victims, however, due to Tanzania having a corrupt government, the President had to fire two officials for creating fake fundraising accounts in which they were taking the profits for themselves (Shaban, 2016). In December the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) established a partnership with TRCS and thus were allowed to enter the affected zone. Their work concentrated on the building of temporary shelters. Within the same month, UNICEF was also signing contracts with TRCS to enable them to enter the region as well, with a focus on activities for children (IFRC, 2016). Engineering experts have carried out damage assessments and buildings started to be rebuilt over time. Workers from Map Action were sent to Tanzania to assess and map the damage that had taken place (Bandali, 2017).
Recommendations for long-term actions
There is no way to warn people when the disaster hits, as only 5.3% of Tanzania has access to the internet (Internet Live Stats, 2017), and there isn't a current system in place which can detect when an earthquake is going to strike with enough time to protect the vulnerable. Less economically developed countries, such as Tanzania are not able to afford earthquake-proofing thus the destruction of infrastructure is inevitable (Rathi, 2016). However, a new technology is being developed currently (Appendix 1), which may enable people to be warned up to ten days in advance, allowing them to evacuate and protect affected areas.
The risk to people is a mixture of both hazard and vulnerability (Appendix 2), the bigger the hazard and the higher the vulnerability the higher the risk. Disasters are the mixture of both also, if you have high vulnerability but no hazard then it cant be classified as a disaster. The same for if you had a hazard but no vulnerability (Wisner et al. 2003). The drivers of vulnerability, as stated in Wisner et al. 2003, are economic, social and political structures. These all affect the allocation and distribution of resources between the different members of society. The social needs of the population weren’t properly addressed as some members were only put into temporary housing in December , two months after the disaster, further increasing the vulnerability of the population (IFRC, 2016). There was a high economic impact as businesses and infrastructure were destroyed. There is already a good committee put in place for disaster relief before and during the disaster (Appendix 3). However, due to the Tanzania government being corrupt its hard to know if the aid is going to the right locations (Gan Business Anti-Corruption Portal, 2017). Thus my first recommendation would be for the committee to work closer together to make the process more efficient, to make sure all people in need are being looked after and also that the money is going to the correct locations. Responsibilities should be clearly divided and communication between the different areas is essential.
Due to the current lack of information to know when a disaster is about to hit, it is important to make sure people are educated on what to do (Appendix 4). It is not necessarily the most efficient way to teach people in schools as only 31% of boys and 24% of girls are currently enrolled in secondary schools (UNESCO, 2017). Thus i recommend that the government employs people to go into towns and communities to teach people on what to do when a disaster strikes, this could be by speeches or by putting up posters. This may include doing earthquake drills so that people can practice for when a real disaster occurs.
During this disaster TRCS was the only organisation allowed to work from the ground in Tanzania. (IFRC, 2016) It would have been more efficient if other aid organisations were allowed to enter the area earlier, such as UNICEF and the IOM. Due to the number of people affected TRCS did not have the capabilities to help all the people in need, and thus some Tanzanians were left for months without shelter and with minimal food (IFRC, 2016). Therefore, my third recommendation is for there to be an international body established with lots of different charities that are prepared so that when a disaster hits they can be first on the scene to help with the relief effort. The responsibilities should be divided up beforehand so that the process will be efficient and effective.
There is a new technology being currently developed which can detect an earthquake emerging up to ten days ahead of the disaster (Rathi, 2016). The current hypothesis is that when pressure increases along a fault line and ‘deforms the earth’s crust’, low quantities of radon gas are released (Rathi, 2016). Radon is radioactive and thus ‘electromagnetic signals are released into the ionosphere’ (Rathi, 2016). These signals are measured by satellites as they can cover a larger distance but they can also be measured from the ground for earthquake-prone areas (Rathi, 2016). Scientists are currently trying plan a mission into space called the TwinSat, in the Mullard Space Science Laboratory (MSSL), at University College London, to test their hypothesis (Rathi, 2016). The TwinSat mission has been put forward by both Russia and the UK (UCL, 2011). This is important because ‘we can expect fatalities from a single event of more than 1 million in the next century’ (Chmyrev et al., 2013).
Appendix 2: Tanzania earthquake PAR model
Appendix 3
3.1 Tanzania Disaster Management Hierarchy
The disaster management committee of Tanzania is split into three different sections. The first operates at a national level, the second at a regional level and the third at a local level (Disaster Management Agency, 2015). These are the different committees:
Tanzania Disaster Management Governing Council and Director General
Comprised of the “Permanent Secretary in the Ministry responsible for disaster management who shall be the chairman, Permanent Secretary from the Ministry responsible for Defence and National Services who shall be the Vice-Chairman, other relevant ministers, Deputy Attorney-General, and the Director-General of the Tanzania Meteorological Agency, who is the Secretary to the council” (Disaster Management Agency, 2015). The President of Tanzania elects a Director General, who serves for a period of five years and will have the chance to be reappointed (Disaster Management Agency, 2015). Their job is to watch over the council, the current Director General is Dr. Agnes Lawrence Kijazi (Tanzania Meteorological Agency, 2017).
Regional Disaster Management Committee
This committee’s job is to give advice to the Regional Commissioner on disaster management and also to oversee disaster risk reduction (Disaster Management Agency, 2015). This committee is made up of ten different members; a Regional Disaster Management Coordinator, a representative from a regional umbrella of NGOs, two representatives from the private sector from within the Region, a representative for TRCS and other humanitarian organisations, three representatives of religious organisations and two prominent persons’ (Disaster Management Agency, 2015).
The Council Management Committees (Local Government)
This committee is made up of the local government (District Authorities) and relevant ministers. The purpose of this committee is to deal with the disaster and increase public awareness of what to do if a disaster hits, on a local level (Disaster Management Agency, 2015).
Appendix 4: What to do during an earthquake (Ready, 2017)
Drop to the ground and cover your neck.
Move to safety under a desk or another object (stay away from walls and windows).
Move away from items that could fall on you.
If you are in bed stay there and cover your head with a pillow.
If you are outside get on the ground in open space.
If you are in a wheelchair lean forward and cover your neck with your hands or a pillow.