Helping Quake Survivors

Mercy Corps is helping house families left homeless after an Oct. 5 earthquake struck Kyrgyzstan's mountainous Alai Region.

A man stands next to a destroyed house in the village of Nura. Mercy Corps is helping survivors secure warm wintertime shelter. Photo: REUTERS/Maksim Slutsky, courtesy alertnet.org

Emergency responders from the agency are procuring supplies to convert recycled shipping containers into mobile homes, using expertise gained in renovating schools and other buildings in the Central Asian nation. These shelters will be insulated, fitted with stoves for cooking and heating and will allow families to stay close to their villages so they can look after their crops and livestock.

The tremor in a sparsely populated area near Kyrgyzstan's border with China left 74 dead and displaced more than 200 families, according to Kyrgyz authorities. Mercy Corps will help the government convert at least 10 shipping containers into temporary homes — especially critical to protect quake survivors as winter weather sets in.