Overview of role of digital technologies in Turkiye post-earthquake reconnaissance operations

Abstract

Some of the earliest adoption of digital technologies began in the late 1990’s and in particular were introduced during field reconnaissance work after the 1999 Turkey Kocaeli and Düzce earthquakes (Ansal et al., 1999). It is thus of significance that following the February 6, 2023 Kahramanmaraş-Türkiye Earthquake Sequence, the next step in advancing the role of digital technologies in post disaster reconnaissance was introduced through the extensive utilization of real-time integrated digital database systems including SiteEye and Filio. The use of these technologies resulted in immediate access to data being acquired by field team members and facilitated the day to day planning of reconnaissance activities for a large coordinated effort involving more than 100 individuals (Cetin et al., 2023). This paper discusses how this rich integration was achieved as well as demonstrates how the immediate access to data facilitated an efficient phased approach to reconnaissance activities.