14 Jan 2019

Red Cross aid to Vanuatu's Ambrym

7:47 am on 14 January 2019
Cracks in a building on Vanuatu's Ambrym Island

Cracks in a building on Vanuatu's Ambrym Island Photo: Facebook / YUMI TOKTOK STRET

The Red Cross in Vanuatu says it expects to learn more about the impact of a volcanic eruption and associated earthquakes on Ambrym later this week.

A number of people had been in emergency shelters in the island's southeast since the first quake a month ago.

The agency has an assessment team on the island at the moment and it will return to Port Vila this week.

The Red Cross's disaster management co-ordinator, Augustin Garae, said they had been providing assistance based on needs identified by the provincial government.

"One is in terms of shelter. So we have distributed tarpaulins and shelter kits, so we have also helped the communities to set up some of the emergency shelters as well, and also we have distributed water containers and also some hygiene kits," he said.

He said there were also communities affected on the north of Ambrym but he understood their main concern was water.

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