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How was LastQuake used in the immediate aftermath of the 6 February 2023 M7.8 earthquake in Turkey?

video_lastQuake_February_6

LastQuake is a multi-channel system that consists of websites, a smartphone app and a Twitter bot.

When the M7.8 earthquake struck Turkey on February 6, people who felt the tremor immediately turned to the LastQuake websites (website visits) and the application (app launches) to get preliminary information and share their experiences (felt reports). LastQuake automatically detected this influx of activity within 70 seconds of the earthquake, even before seismic data was available (crowdsourced detection, green hexagon).

After less than 5 minutes, a notification was sent to all LastQuake app users which generated a new influx of visits to the LastQuake system. The response was particularly large and fast from countries where LastQuake was already popular at the time of the quake (e.g. Cyprus). Within 30 minutes of the earthquake, more than 5,000 felt reports describing the level of shaking and damage were collected, providing a first indication of the impact of the earthquake.
 


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More information is available here:

Social Media, Citizen Seismology and Reducing Earthquake Risk