Emergency Aid for Earthquake Disaster Relief in El Salvador

February 20, 2001

On February 20 (Tue), the Government of Japan decided to extend emergency grant aid totaling approximately 264 million yen to El Salvador, in view of the seriousness of the damage it sustained from two earthquakes in the country. This emergency aid comprises funding of about 2.13 million dollars (about 224 million yen) for the Government of El Salvador and about 40 million yen for a Japanese NGO (Japanese Red Cross Society) which is engaged in assisting the victims in El Salvador.
A major earthquake occurred in El Salvador on January 13 (Sat) this year, followed by another large jolt at 8:24 a.m. on February 13 (Tue) local time (11:24 p.m. 14th (Wed) Japan time). According to an official announcement of the Government of El Salvador as of 12:00 p.m. on February 16 (Fri) local time (3:00 a.m. 17th (Sat) Japan time), 283 people are reported dead, 2,937 injured, 173,359 afflicted and 36,379 houses damaged. It is also reported that in some regions, houses collapsed and landslides occurred, and that further damage is feared.
The Government of Japan has decided to extend the emergency aid, taking into account the seriousness of the disaster from the two earthquakes and also from a humanitarian point of view. The funding that the Government of Japan will extend to the Government of El Salvador will be used for the procurement of materials (including galvanized iron sheets) to construct approximately 10,000 units of prefabricated housing. The funding to support the NGO will be used for a part of the project for building emergency shelters to be implemented by the Japanese Red Cross Society.

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