earthquakes

REDMOND, Wash.--The ground-level conference room in Building 25 doesn't look much different than many others in buildings across Microsoft's sprawling campus.

It has a window, though most of the view is obscured by a large bush. It has the usual array of outlets and Ethernet jacks, screens, and projectors. During earthquakes and floods, hurricanes and tsunamis, though, this room is ground zero for Microsoft's emergency response effort.

Even then though, it can be hard to tell that somewhere halfway around the world, disaster has struck. That's because Microsoft's disaster team is a virtual one, … Read more

While many people have jobs at Microsoft that aim to avoid disasters, Gisli Olafsson's job is getting through them.

As a full-time disaster management specialist for the software maker, Olafsson works with the United Nations and other agencies to prepare before devastation hits and also to coordinate efforts once it does. Olafsson has been sent across the globe to deal with the aftermath of earthquakes and hurricanes, offering help in rebuilding the infrastructure that nature has wiped away.

But, that's only part of the reason Olafsson so often finds himself on the scene of natural calamities. A native … Read more

Editors' note: This list was originally posted at CBS News, where you can find ongoing coverage of the Haiti crisis.

Seeking information on family members The FBI and the National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) have established a telephone hot line to report suspected Haitian earthquake relief fraud. The number is 1-866-720-5721. The phone line is staffed by a live operator 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can also e-mail information directly to disaster@leo.gov. The U.S. State Department says Americans seeking information about family members in Haiti should call 1-888-407-4747 or or 202-647-5225. Due … Read more

You've probably heard something about Doctors Without Borders (also known as the Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF) lately, given their involvement in Haiti. Here, we see the organization set up what they call "plug and play" hospitals--self-sustained, inflatable medical facilities.

The whole 41 metric ton setup allows 9 tents housing 100 beds to be delivered by air, an inflatable facility that operates nearly autonomously from Haiti's devastated infrastructure. Everything from generators to sterilization equipment comes along with the tents.

BoingBoing has an excellent interview with members of the MSF regarding these deployed facilities that I'd … Read more

So, you've donated your $10 to relief efforts in Haiti via text message on your mobile phone and you want to do more to help. A Web site launched this week allows anyone with an Internet connection to help collect information from people on the ground in Haiti and distribute it to relief workers there.

Haiti Live has an embedded Twitter stream with tweets from Haiti with information on things like where medical supplies are needed and what local infrastructure is like in particular areas. Visitors to the site read the Twitter news stream, and when they see an … Read more

In the wake of the devastating 7.0 earthquake in Haiti, Twitter has been serving as a major hub of information, the Nielsen Company reports. Nielsen refers to preliminary analysis of data indicating that Twitter posts are the leading source of discussion about the quake, followed by online video, blogs, and other social media.

Although most online consumers still rely on traditional media for coverage of the quake, they are apparently turning to Twitter to share information, react to the situation, and rally support. Sysomos, an analytics firm in Toronto, estimated that nearly 150,000 posts containing both “Haiti” and “… Read more

Since tweets such as "Text HAITI to 90999 to donate $10 to @RedCross relief" went viral Wednesday, more than $8 million has been donated--about double the amount donated to all charities via text messaging throughout all of 2009, a Red Cross spokeswoman tells CNN.

The Red Cross has solicited text message-based giving campaigns in the past, but its biggest peak was when people raised $190,000 via the Text2HELP campaign in the wake of Hurricane Ike in 2008, according to the organization.

And while Red Cross reports that it has already received far more money via larger donations--about $… Read more

January 14 could be the biggest day for mobile giving to date, as word that texting "Haiti" to number 90999 to donate $10 to the American Red Cross went viral via Twitter, Facebook, and news reports. (Facebook reports that its users have been posting more than 1,500 status updates a minute containing the word Haiti.)

In $10 increments, more than $4 million has been raised via the MGive Foundation's Haiti campaign, according to a Verizon Wireless spokesman. The campaign was set up with with the U.S. State Department and Red Cross late Tuesday night. While … Read more