Portugal Safety and Security Report Wednesday 8th February 2023
As we monitor the tragic events in Turkey and Syria, it should remind us that Portugal is also at risk of earthquakes having experienced those with even higher magnitudes in the past, which resulted in widespread devastation. This feature looks at what is fast becoming a humanitarian crisis as the international community responds to the events in the two countries concerned, and importance of seismic risk awareness closer to home.
Being aware, being prepared could help save your life should a major earthquake occur – wherever you are!
News in the last three days has been dominated by the tragic events in Turkey and Syria with two major earthquakes within 9 hours and 80 kilometres apart – in addition to which there have been around 300 aftershocks, 100+ of which have exceeded 4 Magnitude.
Aftershocks, freezing temperatures and damaged roads are hampering efforts to reach and rescue those affected by Monday’s earthquake in southern Turkey and northern Syria, which has killed more than 11,200 people and destroyed thousands of buildings. Another 37,000 are reported injured in Turkey alone (Updated 0730 hrs)
As the scale of the devastation from the two major earthquakes continues to unfold, the World Health Organization warned that the number of fatalities could exceed 20,000.
As we monitor the national response and relief effort in the two countries concerned, we become more aware of the considerable challenges the rescuers and relief workers face. In Turkey the details of the response, deployment of resources and equipment are relatively clear, with regular reports from the country’s Civil Protection force; reporting this morning for instance that some 79,000 workers are engaged in the rescue effort. Despite this, there is growing anger from many affected, expressed through media interviews that their government have been slow to respond.
Time is of the essence, but this must be viewed in the context that the devastation is huge over a wide area, severely hampering the capacity of local and national authorities to effectively respond to a catastrophe of this scale – as it would be the case in many countries. This situation is also exacerbated by poor weather conditions, which together with roads and bridges destroyed by the earthquake, will impact in response times.
The situation in Syria is also hampered by the fact it is an impoverished nation with a long standing civil war, which has already cost countless lives and damaged infrastructure. There are between three and four million Syrian refugees in southeast Turkey – and more now spilling into the country.
Syria was accused of playing politics with aid after the Syrian ambassador to the UN, Bassam Sabbagh, said his country should be responsible for the delivery of all aid into Syria, including those areas not under Syrian government control. The dispute over the control of the aid is hampering efforts into northern Syria, which is held by rebel groups. The government in Damascus allows aid to enter the region through only one border crossing. This is no time for politics whilst many thousands are people are displaced and trapped in collapsed buildings.
However, the international community has been quick to respond, with humanitarian aid, rescue personnel and specialist equipment being pledged, or already deployed, by countries from as far afield as New Zealand, Australia, China, UK and even Ukraine which is facing a catastrophe of its own resulting from the Russian invasion. Portugal as part of the EU response mechanism is deploying 53 operatives co-ordinated by the ANEPC. Once it arrives its will need a massive coordination effort in the face of many challenges, including political in Syria, to ensure that the resources, aid and equipment reach the most affected areas as quickly as possible. Time is of the essence, especially with sub-zero temperatures in parts of the areas affected.
Over a dozen EU member states have so far responded to Turkey’s call for assistance through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. Urban search and rescue teams are being mobilised from Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, France, Greece, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Romania with Hungary, Italy, Spain, Malta and Slovakia also offering their assistance.
This is an important mechanism and is the same as that used by Portugal for instance when there are a series of major fires when additional aircraft and operatives maybe required. The fact that there is an establish mechanism allows the quick processing of requests and more importantly rapid deployment.
These tragic events in Turkey and Syria should serve as a reminder that Portugal is at risk of earthquakes. While earthquakes are widespread throughout Europe, the most destructive events have historically occurred in the Mediterranean countries, particularly Greece, Italy, Turkey, and Portugal. Many damaging historical events have taken place in Portugal, which is a seismically active country located on the Eurasian plate, along its southern border with the African plate, north of the Azores-Gibraltar transform fault.
Portugal is characterized by moderate intraplate earthquakes, but offshore inter-plate faults may cause extremely damaging events as well. The Lower Tagus Valley (LTV) fault is an important fault zone located in the vicinity of Lisbon. Some of the most destructive earthquakes that have taken place in Portugal are associated with this zone.
The more critical source of concern is the Lower Tagus Valley region, which could produce a magnitude 6 to 7 earthquake with a return period as short as 150 to 200 years. This seismic source zone, with its proximity to Lisbon, the large number of old masonry buildings, and a fraction of reinforced concrete frames designed with limited lateral resistance, presents the most significant potential for large loss earthquakes in Portugal.
This why each year in November the Government holds the Seismic Risk Awareness Campaign, known as “A Terra Treme”, which in 2019 (prior to pandemic) involved number over 750,000 students and adults including Safe Communities Portugal, to ensure that in the event of an earthquake everyone knows how to respond, namely “Drop Cover Hold”. We await the 2022 figures. https://www.aterratreme.pt/
We cannot prevent such natural disasters, but knowing the correct action to take, can certainly reduce the impact and save lives. More about earthquakes here: https://www.safecommunitiesportugal.com/find-information/environment-and-weather/earthquake-tsunami/
Safe Communities Portugal is a qualified Civil Protection Volunteer Organisation under Portuguese law.
David Thomas – President Safe Communities Portugal
Other News:
Fertagus trains expect disruption of services on Thursday 9th February due to IP rail strike
Fertagus – which operates the railway line that passes through the 25 de Abril Bridge, has announced that there will be restrictions on train services on Thursday 9th February between 00:00 and 24:00 hrs
The Fertagus rail service, which connects Setúbal and Lisbon, will experience “disruptions” on Thursday, due to the Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP) strike, according to the operator.
In a note published on its website, Fertagus – which operates this railway line, passing over the 25 de Abril Bridge, upon payment of a user fee to IP – there will be a disruption of train services that day.
“Since minimum services have not been decreed by the CES – Economic and Social Council, we are unable to predict the times that will be possible to perform services”, says the company.
The carrier currently serves 14 stations, over a length of around 54 kilometres, and its service is responsible for close to 85,000 daily journeys.
The Federation of Transport and Communications Unions (Fectrans) announced, on the 25th of January, that the workers of CP – Comboios de Portugal and IP will be on strike on the 9th of February.
At issue, according to the unions, is the lack of response from the two companies to the salary enhancement propos
Cold and fireplaces cause high concentrations of polluting particles in the North – study
Lisbon, Feb 7, 2023 (Lusa) – Last week, the northern region of mainland Portugal registered high concentrations of pollutant particles due to cold weather, poor air dispersion conditions and the use of fireplaces, according to an assessment by the Universidade Nova de Lisboa released today. .
The analysis carried out by the Faculty of Science and Technology of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa/FCT NOVA, points to the need to “adopt measures of an exceptional nature (…) to reduce the risk of short-term exposure of the population to pollutants”.
Speaking to the Lusa agency, Francisco Ferreira, from the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering at FCT NOVA, explained that particles “are pollutants with worse consequences for public health worldwide”.
“We are talking about seven million premature deaths per year, both in terms of indoor air quality and mainly outdoor air. [The particles] have a set of compounds that interfere with our respiratory and cardiovascular systems,” he pointed out.
According to Francisco Ferreira, the smaller the particles, the greater the consequences.
In the last week, “high concentrations of inhalable pollutant particles with levels above the legislated limit value (…), affecting mainly the northern region” of the country were recorded.
“The meteorological conditions observed since January 30, Monday, have contributed to the accumulation of atmospheric pollutants on the surface, causing a strong degradation of air quality”, in addition to “the greater use of fireplaces for domestic heating”, reads up in the study.
For the also president of the Zero environmentalist association, fireplaces “are problematic from the point of view of air quality itself”.
“This is a problem that we will only be able to overcome if we have more efficient housing and buildings, if we have programs and actions to raise awareness of heating systems using biomass, but with less impact”, he said.
“On very cold days, this excessive use of firewood is problematic, when we have meteorological conditions that aggravate the problem, without wind. (…) In the short term, we should make an appeal for people to avoid the intense use of fireplaces”, he added.