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Réunion issues tsunami alert after quake

The French island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean issued an orange tsunami alert on Wednesday after a massive earthquake struck off Indonesia's Sumatra island, the local prefect's office said.

Published: 11 April 2012 14:25 CEST

Réunion issues tsunami alert after quake

Prefect Michel Lalande followed other territories in the region in declaring the medium-level alert for the island, an overseas department of France that is east of Madagascar and has a population of about 800,000.

The prefecture said in a statement that the tsunami could hit the island’s shores between 7:00 pm and 8:00 pm local time (1500 and 1600 GMT). It said local authorities and emergency services were on alert and that swimming would be banned.

It urged local residents to use “the greatest caution.”

“A tsunami is not a show, get to an elevated position, far from theshoreline,” it said.

Réunion suffered some damage during the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean, with the loss of several fishing and pleasure boats.

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Turkish community in Germany gathers to help earthquake victims

In dozens of cities in Germany, donations are being collected for victims of the massive earthquake, which as of Wednesday afternoon had claimed more than 11,000 lives.

People are bringing tent stoves, flashlights, diapers, fleece blankets, and hand warmers. One of the many collection points has been organized by the German-Turkish care service Dosteli in Berlin.

At the governmental level, Germany — home to about three million people of Turkish origin — will” mobilise all the assistance we can activate”, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said on Wednesday.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had a call with Erdogan and sent his “deep condolences”, as a search and rescue team left Tuesday afternoon with 50 rescuers and equipment.

The EU said it was “funding humanitarian organisations that are carrying out search and rescue operations” in Syria as well as providing water and sanitation support and distributing blankets.

Charities line up to help

Particularly in Berlin, where over eight percent of the population is of Turkish origin, people have lined up down streets to drop off supplies. But they have led large donation efforts in cities like Frankfurt and Hamburg, where several businesses like bars set aside space to collect supplies,

The Dostali team had been sorting clothes and hygiene items all night, packing them and loading them into trucks. “Almost the entire Turkish diaspora in Berlin was there,” one volunteer told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ)

The helpers organized themselves via appeals in social media. From the collection points, the donations are to be transported by trucks and planes to the affected regions.

READ ALSO: Who are Germany’s foreign population and where do they live?

In response to an inquiry from the FAZ, Turkish Airlines confirmed that it was delivering donations from 14 countries to the Turkish crisis areas, Germany being one of them.

The Turkish community in Germany is well connected via social media – “and everyone wants to help,” said Kübra Oguz, a volunteer with the Puduhepa e.V., initiative founded by Turkish migrant women.

In order for this to happen in a targeted manner, she recommended directly donating money, which could then be funneled to buy food, hygiene products or shoes, depending on the need.

Several organisations in Germany and worldwide are also accepting donations for humanitarian aid, include UNICEF, Save the Children and Aktion Deutschland Hilft.

With reporting from AFP.

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