SANTO DOMINGO EARTHQUAKE SITREP 1

UNCLAS SANTO DOMINGO 000011 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: AEMR ASEC CASC MARR AMGT HA DR SUBJECT: SANTO DOMINGO EARTHQUAKE SITREP 1 SUMMARY ¶1. Embassy Santo Domingo Earthquake Sitrep 1: n The Haiti earthquake caused tremors in the Dominican Republic, but minimal damage. n Wardens report no Americans missing or casualties. n President Fernandez told Charge that the Dominican Government is prepared to provide military and civilian resources to assist Haitian relief efforts. n Dominican Defense Minister is at the southern border town of Jimini to view the situation and set up a command center. n Dominican Air Force assets are on stand-by to fly to Haiti. n Embassy recommends that any air evacuation of Embassy Haiti personnel and Amcits to Santo Domingo enter via San Isidro military airport rather than Las Americas International Airport. DR SUFFERS MINIMAL DAMAGE ¶2. According to Civil Defense officials and the media, the Dominican Republic suffered minimal damages from the Haiti earthquake. A major electricity line in the southern region was disrupted, but quickly repaired. Strong tremors were felt in the major cities of Santo Domingo and Santiago, but no buildings were reported as collapsing. The Santo Domingo metro was temporarily closed as a precautionary measure, and Tsunami alerts were issued for 18 of the 32 provinces. AMCITS OK ¶3. The full warden network responded quickly to the crisis and reported to the Consulate that no registered Amcits in their areas of responsibility appear to have been adversely affected by the earthquake. DOMINICAN GOVERNMENT PREPARED TO HELP ¶4. Charge spoke with President Leonel Fernandez the evening of 1/12/10, and the President provided assurances that the Dominican Government (GoDR) is prepared to provide military and civilian resources to assist in Haiti relief efforts. Presidential Press Spokesman Rafael Nunez held a press conference that same evening to announce that the GoDR's Emergency Operations Center has been activated and that resources were being prepared for dispatch to Haiti. ARMED FORCES GEARING UP ¶5. DATT and MAAG have been in constant contact with Dominican military sources and report: n The Dominican Air Force is prepared to send four Huey II helicopters, two Casa 212 fixed-wing cargo aircraft, and a limited search and rescue team (dogs and medics) to Haiti as soon as it gets the green light that it can land these assets in Port au Prince. n Defense Minister Gen. Pena Antonio flew to the southern border town of Jimini the morning of 1/13/10, with three Huey IIs, to view the situation on the border and set up a command center there. n Military officials have offered to support USG relief efforts. n Military resources in the border region are being strengthened to assist in relief efforts as needed. n The Armed Forces are in communication with the Dominican Ambassador and DATT in Haiti. EVACUATION OF EMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE PERSONNEL AND AMCITS ¶6. Post understands that an air evacuation of Embassy Port au Prince personnel and Amcits from Haiti will go via Santo Domingo. We suggest that such an evacuation be staged through the San Isidro military airport (MDSI) in Santo Domingo, rather than through the Las Americas International Airport. It will be easier to provide any necessary assistance and perform security checks at San Isidro, and it will also be easier to handle charter flights from there. Should onward evacuation to the U.S. be via commercial flights, it will be a simple process to hire busses to take passengers from San Isidro to the nearby Las Americas airport. ¶7. Port au Prince Minimize Considered. Lambert