Satellites Aid Rescue Efforts in Morocco Earthquake Aftermath

Satellites are of great use in guiding rescue efforts and delivering humanitarian aid to victims. Responding to a request from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the United Nations (UNITAR) "requested the activation of the ’Space and Major Disasters’ international charter on Saturday morning at 7:04 am local time," so that the satellites could be turned towards the affected regions, reports The Conversation. After that, the programming of the most appropriate optical and radar satellites from eight space agencies was effective. Among them, the French Pléiades and Pléiades Neo (high and very high resolution) optical satellites, which will provide first images as early as tomorrow morning, during their passage over the area, the time to load the flight plan.

Natural disasters (cyclone, tornado, typhoon, earthquake, landslide, volcanic eruption, tsunami, flood, forest fire, etc.) or human-caused (hydrocarbon pollution, industrial explosion) occur unexpectedly each year, affecting millions of people around the world. Climate change is accelerating these disasters. These have led the National Center for Space Studies and the European Space Agency to create the "Space and Major Disasters" charter in 1999. To date, 17 member space agencies - including the Canadian Space Agency - are mobilizing "to offer free satellite imagery as quickly as possible on the affected area." From 2000 to today, "the charter has been activated 837 times in more than 134 countries," it is specified. Activations of the charter are supplemented by similar initiatives (Copernicus Emergency or Sentinel Asia).

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According to the new provisional report published by the Moroccan Interior Minister, 2,901 people have died in the earthquake and 5,530 others have been injured. On the ground, rescuers, volunteers and members of the armed forces are working to find survivors and retrieve the bodies of victims.