Christchurch earthquake area and depth from www.christchurchquakemap.co.nz

We are aware of  the risk of looking like disaster hunters (with several previous posts on the topic), but I feel this is the best way of helping my family and friends right now. Much of them live in Christchurch so I am absolutely devastated with what I am witnessing. Christchurch has been hit by what could possible be the worst natural disaster in New Zealand history. I have been in contact with my family via text messages. Fortunately those who I can reach are ok, but there are several others I can’t reach.

During disasters like this it is important to try and not overload telecommunication systems and in some circumstances lines are already down. This is where twitter becomes very useful.  I have been following twitter since the news of the earthquake broke and since then I’ve realised some of my family and friends may be interested to see the live news coming through.

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image by sunranger

The PunkLogic team are safe – some of us escaped to dryer places, some just got a bit damp. Our thoughts are with all flood victims that have been hit hard – here in Australia as well as other parts of the world. In South Africa 53 lifes have been lost since the beginning of the year and in Sao Paolo floods are also currently ravaging leaving 13 dead in mudslides. It is traumatic for all directly involved and shocking for onlookers. We’ll be donating the the QLD flood victim fund and you might consider it too.

Here are some tips that might help clarifying the use of twitter in emergencies. Continue Reading »