Basarnas Ready to Deploy Team to Assist Evacuation of Venezuela Earthquake Victims

The National Search and Rescue Agency, or Basarnas, has stated it is ready to send a team to assist the evacuation process for earthquake victims in Venezuela. This readiness was conveyed after Venezuela declared a national state of emergency due to the strong earthquake that shook the country. Basarnas Deputy for Operations Edy Prakoso said the readiness to deploy the national search and rescue team to Venezuela would fully follow the instructions and official decisions of the central government. “So Basarnas is always ready if asked to help evacuate Venezuela earthquake victims based on the central government’s decision,” Edy said when confirmed in Jakarta on Thursday (25/6). Edy explained that the Indonesian Government has a trained international rescue group, namely the Indonesia Search and Rescue or INASAR. It includes Basarnas personnel who have the capacity for search and rescue operations in major disaster situations. INASAR is part of the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group, or INSARAG, with medium class certification. The team is also said to have experience handling earthquake disaster emergencies in several countries, including Myanmar and Turkey. However, Edy mentioned that so far there has been no official request from the affected country regarding a request for humanitarian assistance or search and rescue operations. According to him, this information was obtained based on monitoring an application owned by Basarnas. Basarnas has also not received information regarding steps from the country’s embassy, whether it has sent an official letter to the Indonesian Government to request assistance or not. “I have also asked directly the Indonesian Embassy in Brazil to confirm whether any Indonesian citizens were affected by the disaster,” said Edy. Previously, on Wednesday, the United States Geological Survey reported two earthquakes with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5 shook Venezuela. The epicentre of the Venezuela earthquake was detected 16 kilometres from the city of Moron and 24 kilometres from San Felipe. The Venezuelan government then declared a national state of emergency following the strong earthquake shocks. Acting President of Venezuela Delcy Rodriguez conveyed the decision in a video speech on Wednesday evening local time. “We are declaring a national state of emergency, as stipulated in our constitution,” Rodriguez said. Rodriguez also mentioned that Venezuela’s main airport, Maiquetia, was forced to close completely because it suffered quite severe damage. “A number of areas are reported to be very severely affected. In the capital Caracas, buildings collapsed in various areas. The states of Miranda and La Guaira also experienced significant damage… including the regions of Aragua, Carabobo, and Falcon,” Rodriguez explained. With this status, Basarnas emphasised that personnel readiness remains within the corridor of the central government’s decision. The deployment of an international SAR team from Indonesia will depend on an official request and the mechanism for inter-state humanitarian assistance. Basarnas stated it will continue to monitor the situation’s development, including the possibility of Indonesian citizens being affected by the Venezuela earthquake.