The Christchurch Earthquake

Tuesday’s earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand, continues to dominate the news. Although the loss of life pales in comparison with the estimated 316,000 people who died in the 2010 Haiti earthquake, for Australians, with our close ties to and friendly rivalry with those ‘across the ditch’, there is an immediacy to the NZ tragedy.

Unlike Haiti, New Zealand is blessed with first-world resources, which greatly improves the chances of not only finding people alive but ensuring their subsequent medical care is beyond basic.
disaster in New Zealand
New Zealanders also enjoy ready access to social media, which is being put to great humanitarian use, with people utilising sites like Facebook and CouchSurfing.com to offer accommodation to those affected by the disaster. As with the recent floods in Queensland, the plight of others is bringing out the best in people – and social media is seen as the best, most-efficient means of offering help and hope.

The Facebook group ‘Supporting Christchurch Earthquake 22-02-2011’ has been liked by almost 60,000 users, which demonstrates a reach and immediacy far beyond that of a traditional condolence book.

Social media has been put to other practical uses, too: ‘Anecdotally we are hearing that people have been using Facebook Checkin to locate themselves and share that information on Facebook with families and friends,’ said James Griffin of social media monitoring firm SR7.

Griffin added, ‘In our opinion, the location-based social networking will increasingly become an important tool during times of crisis.’

There is no doubt that Griffin will be proved right – which is a comfort for those of us living in the industrialised world where broadband is regularly available and Smartphones increasingly negate the need for power supplied by the electricity grid (which is only just becoming operational again in Christchurch).
Disaster in New Zealand
But what about those in the developing world, like Haiti? People who don’t have the luxury of being able to take access to social media for granted. Do social media companies like Facebook and Google, with their vast profits, have a moral obligation to ensure their networks can be readily accessed by people who are otherwise completely at the mercy of the elements?

If social media can save lives or, at the very least, improve the situations (and survival chances) of those affected by natural disasters, surely there’s a compelling argument to improve its accessibility in the world’s poorer regions.

Our thoughts are with the people of Christchurch.