Chile

MSF has made mental health care a priority and is speeding up distribution of sheeting and blankets for people whose homes were damaged

MSF increasing assistance in hard-hit areas, working with local authorities to identify needs and train mental health care-givers

Ten days after an 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck central Chile, the MSF teams that have travelled through the affected areas are focusing their interventions on the most urgent needs: supporting health structures that are caring for large numbers of patients, re-establishing primary health care services, distributing basic necessities, and offering mental health assistance to the affected population.

Several MSF teams are assessing the needs in the Maule and Bio Bio regions of Chile, both of which were hard hit by the 8.8–magnitude earthquake that struck last Saturday.

Marie-Noelle Rodrique, the deputy director of operations of MSF, talks about the emergency response to the earthquake in Chile and how the world responds to disasters and longer-term health problems.

The first members of an exploratory team from MSF have already arrived in Santiago, the capital city of Chile, in order to assess the needs of victims after an 8.8–magnitude earthquake struck the country early Saturday morning.

MSF is sending an exploratory team to assess the needs of the victims after an earthquake of 8.8 magnitude in the Richter Scale struck Chile early Saturday morning, causing serious damages in several areas of the country.