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.