The tragedy in Turkey and Syria due to the earthquakes that occurred in the last two days and which have left more than 5,000 dead, reminds us of the importance of taking care of oneself in these moments of panic and announcing your condition to loved ones.
The helplessness of the victims to find their family and friends intensifies with the passing of minutes, hours and days. That is why social networks like Facebook have a response to disasters that facilitates the communication of victims through social networks.
On Facebook, for example, users can register that they are well after an emergency. How to do it? There is an option of security protection and then another one where it says Disaster response.
Facebook will ask if you are okay and you must click on “I’m fine”. This will inform all your friends on the social network of your current status.
If, on the contrary, you want to find out how a loved one is after a tragedy like this, you should go to the list of friends in the area where the names of the people who have notified that they are well will appear.
If you haven’t confirmed your status, you can send them a notification to report your current status. You must click on “Ask” so that the person receives a notification and can confirm. You can only do this if you are friends on the social network.
Technology also contributes to the search for missing persons. For example, NASA and the United States Department of Homeland Security have technology that has supported the search for missing persons after an emergency.
It is about the Finder (Finding Individuals for Disaster and Emergency Response) which in Spanish means Finding Individuals in the response to Disasters and Emergencies. The device consists of a kind of briefcase that has a radar for detect human heartbeats under the rubble and that help save lives or slight movements of human breathing.
The goal is to get as many people into the “golden hour” after an earthquake, which refers to the first hour after the incident when victims have the best chance of survival.
According to NASA, Finder is essential at the time of earthquakes or avalanches and complements other search methods such as canines, listening devices and cameras used by first responders.
Other important technologies in these tragedies are drones that help to see the current situation in the city where the disaster occurred and thermal cameras that help to visualize who is trapped under the rubble.
Some applications on telluric movements
1. iSismografo (iOS)
An application to know the seismic movements in simple graphs. If intense seismic activity occurs, the application sends an alert to the cell phone.
2. Earthquake Alert! (Android)
The application reports in real time on earthquakes and tsunamis recorded anywhere in the world with the support of data provided by international organizations.
3. QuakeFeed Earthquake (iOS)
It offers a geolocalized mapping where the geographical areas where the telluric movements occurred are indicated and provides information about them.
4. EQInfo (Android)
It provides data on earthquakes such as the region, when it occurred and the distance from the epicenter.