Online quake volunteers invited to work from home

Scientists have appealed for volunteers to help analyse satellite images after back-to-back earthquakes caused widespread devastation in Venezuela.

Headed by Lancaster University physics professor Brooke Simmons, the Planetary Response Network (PRN) project is looking for people to compare photographs taken before and after the earthquakes.

Online volunteers can help spot blocked roads, damaged buildings and broken bridges so that aid workers know where help is most needed.

Humanitarian outreach officer Alice Mead said they especially need people to classify "vital data" about roads, airports, ports and other routes used by aid teams.

More than 1,700 people have died since the earthquakes struck within seconds of each other last Wednesday, a figure the United Nations (UN) said would "unavoidably" rise.

Tens of thousands of people are still believed to be missing.

At least 5,000 people have been injured since the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 quakes struck near the capital Caracas, reducing hundreds of buildings to rubble and prompting officials to declare a state of emergency.

During past deployments following environmental disasters, thousands of online volunteers have compared pre- and post-event satellite images to identify damage to infrastructure and buildings, access blockages, and signs of people in distress.

Simmons said: "After an event like this, there are so many people who want to help, but don't have the financial resources or the time to volunteer in person.

"Our project provides a way for people to help responders in their spare time, without having to leave home."

The project is currently focusing on humanitarian access routes.

The PRN project grew out of the Zooniverse citizen science platform, where members of the public identify patterns in datasets that are too big for experts to examine themselves and too complex for computer algorithms and AI to label reliably.

Interested volunteers are asked to contact Zooniverse.

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