International community provides immediate aid

According to a press release issued by Mexico's Ministry of Foreign Affairs , after the 7.1-magnitude earthquake that struck Mexico last Tuesday, September 19, only twelve days after an 8.2-magnitude earthquake hit the country minutes before midnight on Thursday, September 7 , the international community has expressed solidarity with the Mexican Government and its people and immediate aid is arriving in the country from all over the world.

Mark

Lowcok

, Head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs ( OCHA ), identified Israel , Japan , and the United State s as the countries best able to provide the needed assistance after the devastating earthquakes.

Rescue teams, technical teams, brigades, specialized equipment for rescue work, and heavy machinery have begun to arrive in Mexico.

Rescue teams from El Salvador , Chile , Panama , Ecuador , Honduras , Colombia , Israel , Japan , the United States , Germany , France and Spain are already in Mexico.

Argentina

, Costa Rica , and Peru , among other countries, have expressed their readiness to provide assistance in the next few days.

All the international aid provided have been deployed to the affected areas in coordination with the National Civil Protection System , the Mexico City government , the Ministry of Navy , and the Ministry of Defense.

Benjamin Netanyahu,

Prime Minister of Israel

ordered the Israel Defense Forces ( IDR ) Search and Rescue Unit to leave for Mexico as soon as possible.

The Government of Japan decided to dispatch the Japan Disaster Relief ( JDR ) Search and Rescue Team to Mexico to conduct search and rescue operations.

The United States sent the USAID Disaster Response Team ( DART ), an elite team of disaster experts from USAID's Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance and an urban search-and-rescue team from the Los Angeles County Fire Department .

“On behalf of the Mexican government, the Foreign Secretary expressed his appreciation for the many personal gestures of support and collaboration,“ the statement concluded.

The complete press release can be read at the following link: http://bit.ly/2xBitvk .

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