Hams Respond to El Salvador Earthquake

From the ARRL Special Bulletin...



According to reports from the Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio
Network, El Salvador's worst earthquake in at least a decade, January
13, has claimed more than 400 lives and injured nearly 800 others in
El Salvador and Guatemala. More than 1000 still are missing.
SATERN's Pat McPherson, WW9E, cited figures from El Salvador's
National Emergency Committee.


Hundreds of aftershocks have rocked the region since the initial
quake, which measured 7.6 on the Richter Scale. SATERN activated a
net January 14 to respond to health-and-welfare requests and
emergency traffic from the affected region. McPherson reports that
SATERN volunteers continue monitoring 14.265 MHz, but the formal net
has been terminated for now.



McPherson says that SATERN Coordinator for Honduras Hermann Cueva,
HR1HCP, reports that a net is operating on 7090 kHz to assist El
Salvador.



SATERN has a health-and-welfare inquiry form on its SATERN Web Site.



Meanwhile, a team of 22 Turkish rescue personnel has been dispatched
to the disaster scene. Turkey was hit by a devastating earthquake in
the summer of 1999, and Amateur Radio played a role in providing
emergency communication in the aftermath.



Heading up communications for the Turkish rescue team is Serdar
Demirel, TA2NO. TRAC President Aziz Sasa, TA1E, reports that the
team is equipped with an INMARSAT telephone and VHF and UHF amateur
gear.