tag

A 7.8-magnitude earthquake in the southern Philippines Monday killed at least 35 people, according to provincial authorities, after toppling buildings and sparking tsunami warnings across the region.  National disaster authorities said at least a dozen people were still missing, while 134 had sustained injuries.  Philippine authorities urged people in affected coastal regions to move to higher ground after the offshore quake hit south of General Santos, a city of about 720,000, where the death toll was now 12, according to the tally at a local command centre.  A series of powerful aftershocks rocked the area from about two hours after the first quake, according to the US Geological Survey, with the largest measuring magnitude 6.5.  As night descended, AFP journalists watched as rescue workers in General Santos used their hands to dig through the rubble of a popular grocery store chain in a desperate bid to reach two employees buried beneath. **media[455345]**Morphy Angcad, a 35-year-old security guard, told AFP he was not ready to accept that his sister, one of the two, was dead.  "We received a call this morning telling us that she was one of the trapped there," he said, adding he had refused a hotel room so he could stand watch.  "I don't want to leave this site until I see the body of my sister... (but) I'm hoping against hope that she is still alive."  Dioslinda Deluvio told AFP her son Joey, the other employee, had come to visit her just weeks earlier, asking: "Ma, what is your plan for your life? Are you OK?"  "All I can do is cry now, imagining the good things he did in the world," she said.  A few kilometres away, others were preparing to spend the night on a sidewalk.  "I'll be sleeping here outside even if it's uncomfortable, because I'm scared there will be an aftershock," 34-year-old sales clerk Johnson Alerta told AFP.  "I feel safer here."  'So many lives' Rene Punzalan, disaster chief for hard-hit Sarangani province, told AFP 14 people had died in Glan municipality alone when a landslide buried their homes at the foot of a mountain.  "The landslide happened immediately after the earthquake, so many lives were lost," he said, adding that some areas had yet to report if they had sustained casualties.  "The greatest challenge is communication. The power was cut, so it's hard to get updates," Punzalan said.  Videos posted to social media and verified by AFP showed a shopping centre with a Jollibee fast food restaurant reduced to rubble in General Santos, while a school building that officials said was unoccupied crumpled in another.  In another video verified by AFP, young schoolchildren could be seen screaming in the arms of their teachers as the quake violently swayed them back and forth on the ground.  'Move to higher ground' Sarangani's Punzalan told AFP that more than 2,000 people evacuated due to a morning tsunami warning were now awaiting a green light to return to their homes.  "(Authorities) are still assessing the situation now if it will be OK to send them home," he said.  A notice from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center had said tsunami waves were possible along the coasts of the Philippines, Indonesia, Palau, Taiwan and Papua New Guinea.  But by mid-afternoon, the Philippines and other countries had cancelled their warnings.  Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, who suspended classes across Mindanao island on what was to have been the first day of school, had called on residents in coastal areas to evacuate immediately.  "Move to higher ground now. Do not wait," he said. "Your life is more important than anything left behind."  Earthquakes are a near-daily occurrence in the Philippines, which is situated on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", an arc of intense seismic activity stretching from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.  Eastern Mindanao was rocked by a pair of earthquakes of 7.4 and 6.7 magnitude in October that killed at least eight people.  These followed a magnitude 6.9 quake days earlier that killed 76 people in Cebu province in central Philippines.

Her Excellency the Minister of State for International Cooperation, Dr Maryam bint Ali bin Nasser al-Misnad met with Secretary-General of the International Civil Defence Organization, Arguj Kalantarli, who is visiting the country. The two officials discussed the ongoing co-operation between Qatar and the International Civil Defence Organization, ways to enhance it, and the development of rapid response mechanisms for natural disasters and humanitarian crises worldwide.HE the Minister reaffirmed Qatar's commitment to continuing its humanitarian and relief role on the international stage, prioritizing humanitarian situations, and emphasizing the importance of partnerships with specialized international organizations to ensure civilian protection and mitigate the impact of natural disasters.  

Qatar Red Crescent (QRCS), as part of its humanitarian and development efforts, launched a project aimed at enhancing livelihoods for poor families affected by conflicts and disasters in Afghanistan.This initiative is implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and in co-ordination with local authorities in the targeted areas, with a total cost of QR1,046,884.The project aims to strengthen the resilience and adaptive capacity of Afghan communities most affected by conflicts and natural disasters in the targeted provinces. It seeks to support 517 families through various project activities, helping them build skills and generate income to meet their basic needs and improve their living standards.The project includes training 260 women from vulnerable households in sewing and embroidery. The six-month training programme will be conducted across three training centres in Kabul, equipped with the necessary tools and resources.**media[396410]**Additionally, a vocational training programme will benefit 90 young trainees in solar energy and electrical work for six months in Nangarhar and Balkh provinces. Plans are under way to expand these activities in the next phase to include more trainees and diversify training fields.As part of the same project and in line with efforts to promote economic empowerment for poor and affected families, QRCS provided direct support for small business financing to 90 families, along with assistance to 77 other families in livestock breeding through the provision of cows. These measures aim to improve income sources and enhance the living stability of vulnerable groups. 

Briseida MEMA As Albania recovers from a summer of devastating wildfires, locals and experts are eyeing a long road back to save its shrinking forests from intensifying disasters.In some of the worst blazes to ever hit Albania, nearly 60,000 hectares (nearly 150,000 acres) -- or around two percent of Albania's landmass -- burned when blazes swept across parts of southern Europe earlier this year, according to data from the European Forest Fire Information System.For the small, developing nation, the toll was hefty -- killing one person, destroying dozens of homes, and reducing vital forests to ash."Forests are very important, and they need time to regenerate," Armand Kisha told AFP, standing in the ruins of his carpentry workshop which was destroyed when fires ripped through the central Gramsh region in August.As he tries to rebuild after also losing his home and livestock, Kisha mourns the pine forest that had surrounded him since his childhood."We won't see green pines here like before. It's a catastrophe," he said.Even as the smell of charcoal lingers, the local fire department is warning of the need to rapidly restore the forest, ahead of the wet winter months."This natural disaster could lead to deadly floods," Ilir Llapushi, head of the Gramsh firefighting unit, said.For years, scientists have warned that the risk of damaging floods is dramatically increased after intense wildfires, as rain struggles to permeate the burnt-out forest floor and flows encounter little resistance from the remaining vegetation."We must act quickly to regenerate the forest," Llapushi said.'Compound and cascade'A 2024 World Bank report noted that Albania is one of the most at-risk European nations to climate disasters.Nearly all its regions had been affected by floods, wildfires, landslides or earthquakes in the last two decades, the report said.A boom in informal settlements across most of the Balkans during the 1990s, often built on flood-prone land, means disasters could "compound and cascade" as their frequency increases, the report stated.As Albania faces more extreme weather driven by climate change, it is essential to reform its forest management, said Abdulla Diku, a forestry engineer and researcher based in Tirana.Deforestation, reduced river flows from hydroelectric dams, and an exodus of people from rural areas were intensifying the country's wildfires and putting forests at greater risk, Diku said."The overall situation is such that we now have at least 30 percent less forest than we did 20 or 25 years ago."Earlier this month, Prime Minister Edi Rama announced an action plan to revive forests.His government banned construction on land affected by the blazes, and pledged harsher penalties for arsonists.Ten people were arrested in August, accused of lighting fires. They have since been released.But Diku said that Albania was a laggard in forest restoration projects, investing the lowest amount in Europe.'Fire-filled bombs'As replanting efforts continue, locals and experts are pushing to change the type of trees in their forests.When the flames swept through the Gramsh region, they devoured the pines, whose cones turned into "fire-filled bombs," said Kujtim Palloci, a resident of the hard-hit village of Skenderbegas.Efforts to make the forests more disaster resilient are underway, according to environmental non-government organisation PPNEA.Biologist Melitjan Nezaj said the NGO was working with the International Union for Conservation of Nature on implementing a restoration plan that includes mixing in tree types that better resist "extreme conditions like fires, floods, and landslides".In Gramsh, the municipality is exploring options to alternate pines with other trees, especially deciduous species.But for Palloci, the changes were too late to save his home. In less than 30 minutes, his house was reduced to ashes, his goats burned alive, and his family memories -- photos of his children -- consumed by fire."This house was all we had. This house is my love, my life, my family, my hard work. This house really is everything to me."