On 3 August 2014 the International Charter: Space and Major Disasters was activated at the request of the National Disaster Reduction Center of China (NDRCC) in response to a 6.1 magnitude earthquake in the Yunnan Province, South of China. The mechanism will provide space-based maps of the affected area.
On 18 and 19 July 2014, the International Charter: Space and Major Disasters was activated twice in order to provide satellite-based maps on the impact of Typhoon Rammasun in the Chinese province of Hainan and in Nothern Vietnam.
On 14 June 2014 the International Charter: Space and Major Disasters was activated at the request of the Brazilian Disaster Risk Management National Centre (CENAD) in response to flooding and landslides caused by heavy rainfall from 07 and 10 of June 2014 affecting the states of Santa Catarina and Parana.
Due to the flooding and landslides ten people have died and six are still reported as missing, an estimated 40,000 people have been evacuated and 130 cities have been affected. Flooding of the Parana River has impacted not only Brazil but Argentina and Paraguay as well.
The International Charter Space and Major Disasters was activated on 21 May due to the ongoing flood events in Serbia. The activation was requested by the Russian Space Agency ROSCOSMOS and by our Regional Support Office in Russia - the Russian Agency for Support and Coordination of Russian Participation in International Humanitarian Operations (EMERCOM).
Heavy rain fall during three days, from 14 to 16 May 2014, caused the worst flooding event in the area in over a century. Authorities reported 17 people were killed and over 25,000 were evacuated.
International Charter: Space and Major Disasters was activated on 15 April 2014 on the request of UN-SPIDER's Regional Support Office the Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC) on behalf of the Committee of Emergency Situation and Civil Defence of Tajikistan.
The International Charter: Space and Major Disaster was activated on 14 April due to forest fires, near the city Valparaiso, Chile. The fires have killed 12 people and over 10 thousands were evacuated.
The fires started on Saturday, 12 April, and moved towards the city destroying more than 500 homes. Minor explosions were detected and smoke spread is causing breathing problems to the citizens. Firefighters are trying to stop the spread of the fire, but coastal winds and expected rise in the temperature are threatening to push the fires back into the city.
Two UNOOSA/UN-SPIDER experts participated in the Project Manager (PM) training for the International Charter: Space and Major Disasters from 10 to 11 April in Beijing, China.
The PM training is one of the most important efforts to improve the effective operation of the Charter mechanism. The aim of the training was to provide a deeper understanding of the whole process of coordinating Charter activations to effectively take advantage of this mechanism during emergencies.
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