HAMNET Report

HAMNET is a voluntary group of South African radio amateurs who make their unique communication skills available to assist and help others in distress during and after disasters.
HAMNET is represented on the sub-committee of the South African Search & Rescue Organisation, and is also affiliated to IRESC.

New Zealand was severely shaken by a massive 7.4 on the Richter scale earthquake in the early hours of Saturday morning sending people fleeing from houses and causing severe damage to many buildings. 

The quake hit approx. 19 miles west of the southern city of Christchurch according to their
local geological agency and shook a wide area with some residents indicating that buildings collapsed and power supplies to some areas interrupted.

This quake equalled the Haiti quake in magnitude but due to better quality of buildings, the devastation was on a much smaller scale.  Yet, a lot of damage has been caused, to such an extent that the Mayor of Christchurch, Bob Parker, declaring a state of emergency. Civil Defence is on high alert and the fire chief, Mike Brown, said that there have been no reports of people trapped in collapsed uildings. 
The major damage was from older building chimney stacks collapsing into streets, traffic lights non functional and road subsiding in places.  There was considerable damage to the central part of the city with some reports of looting taking place.  These people were immediately arrested. 

Christchurch international airport was closed for traffic as a precaution as experts wanted to inspect runways and buildings to ensure that they were safe for normal use. 

New Zealand is situated over an area of the earth crust where two tectonic plates collide.  Despite measuring more than 14, 000 tremors on an annual basis, only about 150 are strong enough to be felt by residents. 

In Indonesia, Mount Sinabung, a volcano that has been dormant for more than 400 years erupted during the past two weeks causing panic and confusion among residents. 

Around 30,000 people have been evacuated from the mainly farming villages that surround this volcano and this has caused major discomfort as they were hastily accommodated in refugee camps at very short notice. 

And in the northeastern provinces of Thailand, flash floods have also caused a lot of damage after heavy downpours from the tropical storm Mindulle that swept in from the south east.

Reporting for Hamnet this is Francois Botha – ZS6BUU.

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The South African Radio League