Photo: Brandi Alexandra | Unsplash
In September, a serious earthquake struck the Atlas Mountains in western Morocco, affecting a large area with many of the worst-hit locations being rural mountainous villages that weren't on the map. Many local and international humanitarian aid organizations quickly took action to help, but were unsure about where to go or how to get there. An interactive online database created by Nabil Boutrik helped to ease much of the struggle for aid by providing information about these hard-to-reach areas. With the help of Yassine Chamkh, a computer engineering student, Nabil Boutrik, a Moroccan topographer who understands the fear and panic earthquakes cause, combined topographic maps and high-resolution satellite imagery to locate the rural communities and small villages in need. The platform contains one spreadsheet that gives information about the names, locations, and details of impacted areas, and another spreadsheet is a table of villages with specific assistance requests. This online database helped to increase the efficiency of aid by helping relief organizations avoid going to a location that is already receiving help, communicate urgent needs, and know the exact needs of certain areas, which reduces waste as well.
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