Monitoring reconstruction activities after an earthquake: Jixel for citizens

After the disaster, the rescue teams are focused on monitoring and assessing the conditions of houses, buildings and cultural heritage buildings. Jixel offers a flexible and effective solution that allows the citizens to have a geographical view of the buildings to be monitored and of the on-going results of the on-site activities. The citizens have free access via web to this particular application and can be constantly updated on the current situation of the reconstruction activities. The application provides both a geographical view of the buildings to be renovated and a detailed view of each building with photos/ and mages that document the on-going results of the activities.

Case Study: Jixel for citizens during L’Aquila earthquake aftermath

On 6 April 2009, an earthquake stroke in the L’Aquila area (Central Italy), killing 309 people and damaging or destroying thousands of houses and buildings. Immediately after the disaster occurred, Search and Rescue (SAR) teams started to gather in the area and activities were coordinated by the Department of National Civil Protection. As usual, SAR teams from Italian Vigili del Fuoco (CNVVF) have been heavily involved, with 2300 firemen and 116 teams operating on a large area and organised in a central headquarters (DI.COMA.C) and 7 local headquarters.
As soon as the urgent SAR activities had ended, the focus of the rescue teams became the assessment of houses and building conditions. A noticeable cooperation was established with Ministero dei Beni e delle Attività Culturali e del Turismo (MiBACT – Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism) in order to assess the buildings conditions and monitor the cultural heritage buildings (e.g. churches, historic buildings or medieval castles).

Citizens have in a way ‘taken part’, even if passively, to the monitoring of historical buildings and cultural heritage, thanks to the applications of Jixel for monitoring the reconstruction activities after an earthquake. With this application, freely accessible via web (click here to enter), citizens can monitor the status of the on-going activities: it is a way to involve the population in the reconstruction process of their city and their life.