<
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/morocco-earthquake-digital-database-relief-efforts/>
"Late one night in September, a shallow earthquake struck the Atlas Mountains
in western Morocco. The US Geological Survey said the quake had a magnitude of
6.8 with an epicenter some 72 kilometers (45 miles) southwest of Marrakech, the
North African country’s fourth-largest city. When it struck across six
provinces that night, the earthquake affected an area larger than Switzerland.
The worst-hit locations were literally off the map — rural mountainous villages
unfamiliar to most Moroccan citizens, let alone relief workers from foreign
countries. Within hours, humanitarian aid organizations, both local and
international, shifted into high gear. But the caravans, carrying basic
necessities and journalists eager to tell the story, faced a hurdle: finding
out where to go and how to get there.
“The post-earthquake crisis reminded me of the early days of Coronavirus, with
immense confusion and absence of crucial information,” says Moroccan
topographer Nabil Boutrik. “It was in 2020 that I had built my first online
database to publish accurate information about the number of fatalities and
infections, and to counter rumors and misinformation infesting social media
platforms. Right after the earthquake, I felt the need for another database to
make important information available.”
The earthquake, which was the strongest to hit the country in 60 years, killed
over 2,900 people, injured about 3,000 others and left many more homeless.
According to Moroccan local authorities, 2,930 villages — one-third of the
villages in the High Atlas Mountains region — were either completely or
partially destroyed.
Despite the wide-scale devastation, the Moroccan government was adamant that
relief efforts be led by local workers. In an attempt to avoid geopolitical
conflict and make sure that donations were used efficiently, Morocco made the
controversial decision to only accept a fraction of the international aid
offered. Seisme Maroc Data, the online database Boutrik created for the
difficult-to-access regions, contributed to streamlining efforts and resources.
“I decided to build a bilingual [Arabic-French] interactive online database
providing information about and geo-mapping the disaster-stricken areas within
a 50-kilometer radius,” says Boutrik.
Within days, the database was live, and over the following weeks, it compiled
information on 123 regions, including hundreds of villages as well as 54 relief
organizations, providing users with updated information on road conditions and
other details crucial for coordinating relief and rescue missions."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
