Paulo Rangel said earthquake showed Portugal’s means were “up to the mark”
In the absence on holiday of Portugal’s prime minister Luís Montenegro, acting prime minister (foreign affairs minister) Paulo Rangel has described the largest earthquake to have rattled the mainland for decades as “a real test of our capacities of response”.
Beside the fact that it was ‘all over’ in seconds, without record of damages to living beings and/ or property – and without apparent risk of a follow-up tsunami – Mr Rangel said that everything he saw from his early morning visit to the national civil protection authority in Carnaxide showed him that “if there had been the need for them, means (of response) would have been perfectly activated”.
He was assured of “plans that have been tried and tested for a long time; that have to be constantly updated and renewed – and so there was some projection here for the future in the sense of preparing Portuguese structures, civil protection, national and regional, and the population in general to have the capacity to respond”.
The acting PM also thanked Civil Protection for the “highly professional way in which it reacted in the first minutes, and during the first hour” – albeit nothing appears to have happened on the mainland, nor was it required in the aftermath of the 5.3 intensity quake.
Everything on land demonstrated the “serenity and tranquil functioning of institutions”, he ventured, following comments earlier to ‘the Portuguese’ as a population to also remain ‘serene and tranquil’.
All this is almost comical in as much as this was an earthquake that admittedly startled many people, but equally did nothing more.
Had the mainland suffered an earthquake of similar proportions, closer perhaps to the earth’s surface, or on a different fault line, the situation and response could well have been less tranquil and serene.
But politicians know how to seize a moment. In Lisbon, mayor Carlos Moedas did very much the same: he told reporters that, in his opinion, the capital is prepared for “catastrophes of greater magnitude”.
This morning’s ‘catastrophe’ was really not of any ‘magnitude’, nor could it really be termed a catastrophe. Yes, the quake almost 60 kms out to sea registered 5.3 on the Richter scale, but it did not cause any damages (as far as we have been informed) nor personal injuries.
Undaunted, nonetheless, Carlos Moedas recalled how “various disaster response mechanisms have been reinforced over the last two years.
“For the last two years, Lisbon has been preparing itself in every way”, he said live from the European Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, which is taking place until the end of the week in Lisbon.
“In the event of earthquakes, we are assessing buildings. We’ve already assessed more than 1,500 municipal buildings where only 10% need reinforcement – and we’re already reinforcing them”, he added.
Moedas also referred to the capital’s ‘very well prepared teams’.
He stressed the importance of everyone being “trained to know how to react” because “Lisbon is in a seismic zone and (earthquakes) can happen”.
The Mayor of Lisbon also called on citizens to remain “calm and serene”.
Very different to today’s event, the Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755 really was a catastrophe. It also had an epicentre far out to sea (much further than today’s quake) – but it was a much larger event, measuring 7.7 at least, if not more (the Richter Scale was still centuries from being created), and it was differently positioned causing tidal waves to travel thousands of miles to other countries, as well as towards Lisbon and the Algarve, where damages were enormous.
Following up on the various declarations of this morning, President Marcelo has praised the action of Civil Protection, and the “good coordination” with the government, echoing political leaders’ calls for “calm and serenity”.
“The message is very simple: serenity, tranquility and normality”, he said. “Anyone in Lisbon today will see this. It is the start of a normal, natural week, with no reason for any particular concern”.
Source material: LUSA/ SIC Notícias
