This mission report describes the findings of environmental experts deployed by the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) and the UN Environment/OCHA Joint Unit (JEU) following a series of earthquakes in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

On 3 February, a number of earthquakes – ranging in magnitude from 5.0 to 6.1 on the Richter Scale – struck the Great Lakes region of Africa near the border between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). After the initial response phase, a United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team was requested to undertake a damage assessment in the affected region around Bukavu in DRC. The JEU deployed two environmental experts from Switzerland and Denmark to undertake a rapid environmental assessment to identify damage to industrial facilities and other secondary risks as well as the needs for mitigation measures.

The experts field-tested the Flash Environmental Assessment Tool (FEAT). Main recommendations included the mapping of high risk areas for landslides, including ad-dressing the issue of people living on these sites. The re-location of power lines to less vulnerable areas was also recommended.

Consult the mission report here.