The United Nations has activated its emergency mapping satellite service following a devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on Monday (Feb. 6).
The magnitude 7.8 earthquake triggered widespread destruction all through Turkey and northwest Syria, claiming the lives of greater than 2,000 individuals and injuring 1000’s extra, Reuters reports (opens in new tab). The epicenter of the 11-mile-deep (18 kilometers) earthquake seems to have been alongside the southern border of Turkey simply west of the town of Gaziantep, according to data (opens in new tab) collected by america Geological Survey.
Within the wake of the damaging earthquake, the United Nations Satellite Centre (opens in new tab) (UNOSAT) announced via Twitter on Monday (opens in new tab)(Feb. 6) that it has activated its emergency mapping service, which “supplies satellite picture evaluation throughout humanitarian emergencies associated to disasters, advanced emergencies and battle conditions.”
Associated: Earthquakes: What are they and how do they occur?
A stay map that comprises geospatial knowledge associated to the Feb. 6 earthquake in Turkey and Syria might be found on UNOSAT’s website (opens in new tab). The map supplies an summary of buildings that had been broken or probably broken by the earthquake, which may then be utilized by humanitarian aid and catastrophe response teams in an effort to greatest reply to the still-unfolding disaster.
Teams comparable to United Nations workplaces and businesses, governmental businesses, aid organizations such because the Purple Cross and Purple Crescent and non-governmental humanitarian organizations can all request entry to the imagery collected by UNOSAT.
UNOSAT started in 2001 and is hosted on the European Group for Nuclear Analysis, or CERN. Its preliminary focus was to supply the United Nations with satellite evaluation and coaching for U.N. member states, however by 2003 the middle had expanded into providing speedy mapping companies for humanitarian efforts comparable to what’s at present unfolding in Turkey.
The middle does not operate its own satellites (opens in new tab), however as a substitute coordinates with U.N. member states to collect imagery from their governmental businesses and personal satellite corporations.
Observe Brett on Twitter at @bretttingley (opens in new tab). Observe us @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab), or on Facebook (opens in new tab) and Instagram (opens in new tab).
