Earthquakes are some of the most devastating natural hazards. Powerful earthquakes trigger the destruction of private and public infrastructure, leading to fatalities and injuries.  

Space technologies facilitate the identification of damaged and collapsed infrastructure in urban and rural areas as well as landslides and geologic deformation. The techniques usually employ the comparison of satellite images before and after the earthquake. Emergency mechanisms such as the International Charter Space and Major Disasters, the Copernicus Emergency Management Service and Sentinel Asia are the three main mechanisms established by the space community that provide space-based information on damages triggered by earthquakes to disaster managers and humanitarian organizations free of charge to contribute to disaster response efforts. 

Since several years ago, researchers collaborating with UN-SPIDER have been developing procedures and mapping landslides in rural roads, as such information is essential to deliver humanitarian assistance to rural communities affected by such earthquakes. 

During the war, wildfires are occurring as collateral damages in the active combat zone around the line of contact. Starting end of February 2022, the regional branch of the Freiburg-based Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC), the Regional Eastern Europe Fire Monitoring Center (REEFMC) based in Kyiv, is monitoring the situation 24/7. Regularly issued Landscape Fire Bulletins provide updates on wildfires on the territory of Ukraine, including forests, protected areas and agricultural lands. Monthly bulletins are published during the fire season between March and October and include updated maps of active fires detected by satellite sensors, fire statistics, maps and details of large fires. Safety Advisories have been issued to address the threats of wildfires burning on terrain contaminated with land mines, unexploded ordnance (UXO) and radioactivity. Furthermore, GFMC and REEFMC have worked with WWF Ukraine in addressing the problem of forest management on UXO terrain and are currently working with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on the “Assessment of environmental impacts of the war against Ukraine and options for remediation”. Furthermore, GFMC and REEFMC are supporting the activities of the Ministerial Conference for the Protection of Forests in Europe (FOREST EUROPE) in implementing the Ministerial Decision “Supporting the recovery and sustainable management of Ukrainian forests and its forest sector“ of the 45 signatory states.

Authors:

• Johann Georg Goldammer, Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC), Freiburg, Germany, member of DKKV
• Sergiy Zibtsev and Oleksandr Soshenskyi, Regional Eastern Europe Fire Monitoring Center (REEFMC), Kyiv, Ukraine

The 6 February 2023 earthquake has left a trail of destruction and unimaginable suffering in Syria and Turkey. In addition to lives lost, millions are now displaced from their homes. Bonn-based NGO Help – Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe is currently providing people in the affected areas with essential goods. The focus is primarily on food, hygiene and warming household items. 

Help has been active in Syria since 2012, providing emergency and winter assistance to displaced people, but also supporting farmers in drought-affected areas in maintaining sustainable agriculture. "The earthquake is multiplying the suffering of people whose lives have been defined by war and flight for years," says Mirna Abboud, Help’s Country Director in Syria.

Working with local partners, the NGO was able to get rapid relief measures underway on the day the earthquake hit. Currently, Help’s partners in the Syrian provinces of Aleppo, Latakia and Hama are distributing 19.200 food parcels, 11.200 parcels of baby and infant food and 28.800 hygiene kits to affected people. Help also provides chronically ill people with medication, covering the costs of medical treatment and operations for those in need.

Displaced families in the Afrin district of Aleppo province and in Idlib province as well as the provinces of Gaziantep and Antakya in Türkiye are provided with warming materials, including heaters, blankets, pillows and mattresses. 

As the needs in the region are still prevalent, Help is preparing to scale up the measures, procuring goods locally – not only to save time, but also to strengthen local producers and suppliers.