There was an earthquake and a quite strong one that was felt throughout the country. It was about 7 of the Richter scale in the epicenter. It damaged about 1000 houses in a few villages of North Albania. Most of the damaged buildings have walls badly cracked while a few others are totally crashed. Thank God there are no human casualties.

The quakes have continued almost every day since September 6th, with less intensity, but this is enough to calm the already-existing panic of the people who keep sleeping outside.

The North of Albania is a poorer area compared to the South and also more isolate, more mountainous and somewhat more backwards. The families are also more numerous. The weather is much colder especially during the winter when it snows for months. The inhabitants of the earthquake areas are worried that although the cold season is approaching they will not be able to have their houses repaired in time.

The government has provided tents but the inhabitants of the affected zones prefer to settle in the yards of their houses so that they can keep an eye on their belongings as well as be able to take care of the livestock, etc.

Actually they are not asking for emergency or relief aid; the only thing they are asking from the government is to have their damaged houses repaired and habitable before winter.

The situation remains tense and it is feared that it may get worse with the approaching of rains and dropping of temperatures which might affect the health of the children or elderly.
 
Monika Qerimi   - MWB Albania

This entry was posted on Friday, September 18th, 2009 at 2:41 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.