Technology ventures have engaged with campaigns to assist massive relief efforts after southern Türkiye was hit by catastrophic earthquakes this week.
In what is considered one of the worst disasters this century, two 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude quakes just hours apart on Monday devastated cities and towns across a huge swathe of southern Türkiye, including Kahramanmaraş, Hatay, Gaziantep, Osmaniye, Malatya, Adıyaman, Adana, Kilis, Diyarbakır and Şanlıurfa.
Search and rescue teams have been racing against time in the hope of reaching survivors and pulling more bodies from the rubble as the quakes razed thousands of buildings across the region.
In addition, delivering is as important as collecting desperately needed supplies and equipment to be shipped to disaster zones, efforts that can be aided by location-based applications.
Speed is crucial during search and rescue operations in the aftermath of an earthquake, and artificial intelligence technology and location-based applications are used in these efforts, as well as in assessing the damage to buildings. Survivors share information about the status of their buildings and whether there are people trapped in the rubble.
Meanwhile, organizations collecting aid in the aftermath of the disaster have also started accepting donations in cryptocurrency, and crypto organizations have started creating accounts for this purpose.
BtcTurk has created wallets to accept bitcoin, ethereum and tether donations for organizations such as the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), the humanitarian organization Hayata Destek (Support for Life), the Turkish Red Crescent (Kızılay), the Basic Needs Association (Tider) and the Community Volunteers' Foundation (TOG).
You can support the cause by sending cryptocurrency from crypto wallets outside of your BtcTurk account or from accounts on other platforms to these wallet addresses. BtcTurk will automatically convert the sent cryptocurrency into Turkish lira and will not charge any commission fees for the conversion process.
Spearheaded by ventures engaged in e-commerce, technology initiatives have been pioneering the drive to ensure donations are easily accessible and securely transferred.
Among others, digital support cards were introduced for prominent institutions and nonprofit organizations collecting donations.
The Turkish Red Crescent and the Ahbap association unveiled support cards at amounts of TL 50 or more run over Trendyol, one of the leading e-commerce platforms in Türkiye. In addition, e-commerce companies’ donations were collected with the support of the Trade Ministry.
Separately, blood donors can find out about the nearest blood donation centers via e-Devlet, an online government platform that provides citizens with access to a range of public services and information. The “nearest blood donation center” feature on the e-Devlet can find the location, phone number and working hours of the closest Turkish Red Crescent facility running such service. The map feature also provides a route to the selected point.
Another service offered by the Presidential Digital Transformation Office for earthquake survivors aims to deliver monetary donations securely to those in need. Namely, digital services regarding donation campaigns run by the AFAD and the Turkish Red Crescent are now accessible through the e-Devlet platform.
Citizens will be provided with two separate "Earthquake Donation Campaigns" services from the AFAD and the Turkish Red Crescent through the platform by using their credit cards. E-Devlet also provides a three-dimensional security system (3D Secure) protection during the payment process for those who wish to make a donation.
To assist those in need of housing following the quakes that devastated 10 cities, Hepsiemlak.com has launched the "Friendship Roof" project. Those in need and philanthropists can participate by visiting the website prepared for the project and filling out the relevant forms. The project, which has no regional restrictions, can be supported from all over Türkiye by philanthropists who want to share their homes with disaster victims.
The Hepsiemlak customer service team, which reviews the forms and performs necessary checks, is trying to support the solution to the housing problem by properly matching the participants.
To participate in the project, which has received intense interest on social media since its launch, you can visit www.dostlukcatisi.com or support it by sharing the page with your networks to help the project reach more people.
Having accurate data to create solutions for directing limited resources in the event of an earthquake is of utmost importance.
Deprem.io is a platform that allows you to report the location of people who are stuck under rubble in earthquake areas or report the location of people whom you know are trapped. The platform also allows you to report the locations of people who need food or heat. Additionally, you can also make donations to necessary points through the platform.
Thanks to the site, where both those in need and those providing help can be found, the information overload of repeatedly sharing addresses that were shared hours earlier and enabled people to be saved can be prevented on social media.
If you have a loved one you would like to report, or if you are curious about the current situation and want to make a donation, you can use deprem.io. The site, where you can report your needs and learn about the locations of earthquake victims, has been launched.
Platforms that offer the opportunity to reach people under the rubble through existing social media networks instead of downloading an application have also made it possible to reach people in need of help.
Endeksa has prepared a page to provide support for search, rescue and damage assessment efforts in the aftermath of earthquakes. The "Help Requests and Earthquake Analyses" page displays help requests shared on Twitter, making it possible for aid teams and citizens to have their requests listed instantly. It also includes information about earthquakes that have taken place.
The page can be accessed from both web and mobile devices through the deprem.endeksa.com website.
To address the difficulties in finding individuals in need of help following an earthquake, Başarsoft has created the "Earthquake Assistance Needs Mapping Portal."
In situations of collapsed buildings and roads, the portal, available at https://deprem.basarsoft.com.tr, uses location-based information from social media posts to direct aid teams to the rubble where help is required.
The collapse of buildings, closure of roads and disappearance of streets due to earthquakes have also made it difficult to find given addresses. While aid teams have been insufficient due to the swathe of the area hit by the disaster, some of the aid requests made on social media could not have been met due to the inability to locate addresses.
Starting from the moment of the earthquake, a 40-person team from Başarsoft Ankara scanned Twitter and other social media networks for aid requests and classified them by filtering the addresses and request details.
It then coordinated and recorded the information in the portal. It thus allowed the location of those in need to be determined without an address.
The portal has been designed to allow not only the Başarsoft team but also anyone in need to submit an aid request. The portal features a simple "+" button for adding new requests, and the user can enter information such as their name, location, last contact date, and bedding and food needs.
The application is designed as a web interface, accessible from cell phones, and does not require downloading or registering an application, making it accessible even in areas with limited internet capacity. Thus, users do not have to download, upload, or register an application.
The data collected is made available to public institutions within the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization.
Türk Telekom deploys mobile base stations, portable charging
One of Türkiye's leading information and communication technologies companies, Türk Telekom, has ramped up efforts and unveiled multiple services and measures taken to ensure uninterrupted communication for all affected regions in the aftermath of the earthquakes.
As part of the quake mobilization, free calls and internet loading are provided to help citizens meet their communication needs, while also making calls from landline phones free for use in all directions within the country.
In addition, WiFi internet spots have been and continue to be made available for free. Mobile base stations have been sent to the affected region. As part of the efforts, portable charging devices (power banks) are also being provided for citizens' smart devices at Türk Telekom stores.
At the invitation of the AFAD, a 105-member Türk Telekom Search and Rescue Team (TTAKE) has also moved to the earthquake region. The company said tents, blankets and sleeping bags were also dispatched to the disaster zones.
Field teams are continuing to work to ensure uninterrupted communication in the affected regions, with an emphasis on communications to be made through short message services and internet-based messaging software.
