The Haiti earthquake and mobile technology–a look back

Donna Cusano

One year ago, on 12 January 2010, Haiti was devastated by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake. The mHealth Alliance looks back on how mobile technologies enabled speedy rebuilding of critical parts of the telecommunications system (Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF), a single tweet initiated an emergency response network via Medic Mobile (Frontline SMS: Medic), and mobile fundraising (Mobile Accord’s mGive.) The good: mobile quickly bridged a communications gap. The bad: mHealth perhaps could not go far enough in helping to assess the extensive threat of this past summer’s cholera epidemic. Rebuilding Haiti: A Look Back at Mobile Technology Efforts