Non-profit social media expert Beth Kanter posted an interesting analysis of social media’s role in emergencies on her blog yesterday.
Indeed, the geo-platform Ushahidi, which allows users to crowdsource crisis information to be sent via mobile devices, assisted many survivors, aid workers, and organizations during the Haiti crisis (most would say it played a critical role). AWARE Forum did a spotlight on the crowdsourcing phenomenon back in June.
However, the question is whether or not social media is becoming a viable outlet for all sorts of other disasters, crises, or emergencies? Can the Ushahidi effect extend to our daily lives?
According to a new American Red Cross survey, 49 percent of web users would either “probably” or “definitely” use social media to “let loved ones know they are safe.” Also, 69 percent of web users expected emergency responders to be “monitoring social media sites” to send help; in fact, 74 percent expected help within an hour of their tweet or Facebook post.
This is a brand new phenomenon, and it’ll be interesting to see how emergency responders adapt within the next couple of years (especially in conjunction with traditional 9-1-1 calls). The rise of social media has given the general public a viable and extremely fast way of broadcasting their status—good or bad—to their family and friends, but there are few cases where such status updates have been used for such utilitarian purposes.
Twitter was originally started as a quick SMS service within small groups, to the great benefit of fire departments: now are they ready to listen outward?
For the original article on Beth’s blog, go here.
Let us know in the comments what you think: is social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) a viable option for emergencies updates and responses in your daily life?
The nifty program takes advantage of accelerometers built into many newer laptops. Here’s one genius computer program you might consider pushing virally for science’s sake. The “Quake Catchers” program aims to make earthquake detection a lot easier and cheaper by taking advantage of accelerometers built into MacBooks and other newer laptops, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The accelerometers that are embedded in everything from iPhones to the Nintendo Wii aretiny devices that detect movement. Having software that takes advantage of the tiny devices on thousands of laptops could complement the current system of earthquake sensors installed along fault zones.
Scientists who research natural hazards walk a precarious line when it comes to predicting disasters. They’re often criticized for over-hyping the situation and disrupting residents’ lives. But if they fail to predict a catastrophic event, they’re accused of failing to give the public adequate warning. It’s a classic case of “damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”
“Damned if you don’t” is the situation that seven of Italy’s top seismologists now find themselves in — the scientists face manslaughter charges for failing to predict the April 2009 earthquake that struck the town of L’Aquila in central Italy.
Life for people living in the shadow of a stratovolcano would be much simpler if eruptions were easily predicted. Earthquakes and steam-venting often signal an impending eruption, but the activity may go on for weeks or months before the eruption actually happens. The May 18, 1980, eruption of Mount St. Helens in southern Washington’s Cascade Range was preceded by almost two months of seismic activity and steam-venting. Many residents had begun to think the agencies issuing the warnings were “crying wolf,” and refused to leave homes located in the flow paths. Many others were in the scenic area hiking and camping. But the mountain did blow — and it blew with a vengeance, spawning pyroclastic flows that traveled at 50 to 80 miles per hour and sending about 520 million tons of ash eastward across the United States.
For more: http://www.popsci.com/environment/article/2009-02/shadow-redoubt
By GILLIAN FLACCUS (AP) – 14 hours ago
HONOLULU — The warning was ominous, its predictions dire: Oceanographers issued a bulletin telling Hawaii and other Pacific islands that a killer wave was heading their way with terrifying force and that “urgent action should be taken to protect lives and property.”
But the devastating tidal surge predicted after Chile’s magnitude 8.8-earthquake for areas far from the epicenter never materialized. And by Sunday, authorities had lifted the warning after waves half the predicted size tickled the shores of Hawaii and tourists once again jammed beaches and restaurants.
Scientists acknowledged they overstated the threat but many defended their actions, saying they took the proper steps and learned the lessons of the 2004 Indonesian tsunami that killed thousands of people who didn’t get enough warning.
“It’s a key point to remember that we cannot under-warn. Failure to warn is not an option for us,” said Dai Lin Wang, an oceanographer at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii. “We cannot have a situation that we thought was no problem and then it’s devastating. That just cannot happen.”
Hundreds of thousands of people fled shorelines for higher ground Saturday in a panic that circled the Pacific Rim after scientists warned 53 nations and territories that a tsunami had been generated by the massive Chilean quake.
It was the largest-scale evacuation in Hawaii in years, if not decades. Emergency sirens blared throughout the day, the Navy moved ships out of Pearl Harbor, and residents hoarded gasoline, food and water in anticipation of a major disaster. Some supermarkets even placed limits on items like Spam because of the panic buying.
At least five people were killed by the tsunami on Robinson Crusoe Island off Chile’s coast and huge waves devastated the port city of Talcahuano, near hard-hit Concepcion on Chile’s mainland.
But the threat of monster waves that left Hawaii’s sun-drenched beaches empty for hours never appeared — a stark contrast to the tidal surge that killed 230,000 people around the Indian Ocean in 2004 and flattened entire communities.
More at: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jBrcBuf8vcRnbwe8MlMqRV1EnkOwD9E5LFTG1
rreyes@tampatrib.com
Published: February 5, 2010
The Tampa Bay area, the message read, was under an earthquake warning.
“It said to be prepared,” said Brooks, 58. “It put me in a panic attack.”
The tickertape scrawl about the tremors turned out to be a test that only meteorologists should have seen.
“We test it all the time,” said Dan Noah of the National Weather Service in Ruskin, “but it usually isn’t broadcast to the rest of the world. This one made it out of the building.”
Almost immediately, all the phone lines at the weather service and Hillsborough County Emergency Management lit up with concerned callers, officials said.
“We got a few” calls, emergency management spokeswoman Holley Wade said with a laugh.
Noah said that on the radio, the warning was spoken by an automated voice that repeated, “Test, earthquake warning, test.” The alert was broadcast at 1:07 p.m.
Computer engineers are still trying to figure out how the glitch happened.
“Our No. 1 mission is to warn of hazardous weather to protect life and property,” Noah said. “We have to make sure the system works.”
Article at: http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/feb/05/na-earthquake-warning-test-shakes-viewers/
Caribbean, International Partners Hone Tsunami Warning System
Enhanced seismic networks, tide gauges improve regional hazard detection
This is part two of a series about the tsunami early warning system in the Caribbean
By Cheryl Pellerin
Science Writer
Washington ― Frequent Caribbean earthquakes and concern about tsunamis prompted the island nations, the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) and neighbors, including the United States, to build on local experience with hurricanes and volcanoes to establish a regional warning system for tsunamis and other coastal hazards.
While no warning system can prevent naturally occurring hazards like earthquakes and storms, having an early warning system can minimize the loss of life and destruction that accompanies these hazardous events, giving people time to prepare.
The effort began in 2005. Today, the islands are protected by real-time seismic stations for detecting earthquakes, three deep-ocean detection systems (DARTs) for tsunami waves, and a growing number of stations for monitoring sea level. By the end of the year, the United States with the University of Hawaii Sea Level Center and the Puerto Rico Seismic Network will have installed 11 more sea-level stations in the region.
After the magnitude 9.0 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami that took 230,000 lives in 2004, the U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has helped enhance the Caribbean’s warning capacity, Jenifer Rhoades, tsunami program manager for NOAA’s National Weather Service, said in a recent interview.
With the U.S. Geological Survey [USGS], she said, “we enhanced the seismic network in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and we are working with the USGS and other international partners to enhance the seismic capability elsewhere in the Caribbean.”
With IOC oversight and coordination, and technical and financial help from many nations, initial seismic and tsunami warning systems are in place in the Pacific and continue to be improved in the Indian Ocean, the northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean, and the Caribbean.
Scientists can’t predict exactly when an earthquake will hit, but they are developing ways to give people up to a minute of warning before the shaking starts. New equipment can send out seismic information 5 seconds faster. For more information click here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123126966
Earthquake Early Warning System Possible
Released: 12/14/2009 10:51:48 AM
An earthquake early warning system for California is feasible in coming years, according to research being presented Dec. 14-15 at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco.
The ongoing study demonstrates that an earthquake early warning system for California is possible and lays out how such a system could be built.
Earthquake early warning systems, already successfully deployed in Mexico, Japan and Taiwan, can detect an earthquake in progress and provide notice of seconds to tens of seconds prior to actual ground shaking. Building on developments in other countries with significant earthquake risk, scientists are exploring early warning in the United States.
After a three-year earthquake early warning study funded by the U.S. Geological Survey was completed in August 2009, a second USGS-funded project was launched to integrate the previously tested methods into a single prototype warning system. When completed, this pilot system, called the California Integrated Seismic Network (CISN) ShakeAlert System, will provide warning to a small group of test users, including emergency response groups, utilities, and transportation agencies. While in the testing phase, the system will not provide public alerts.
The CISN ShakeAlert system will detect strong shaking at an earthquake’s epicenter and transmit alerts ahead of the damaging earthquake waves. The speed of an electronic warning message is faster than the speed of earthquake waves traveling through the earth. Potential applications include stopping elevators at the nearest floor, slowing or halting trains, monitoring critical systems, and alerting people to move to safer locations. In warning systems deployed abroad, alerts are distributed via TV and radio networks, the Internet, cell phones and pagers.
More at: http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=2366&from=news_side
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