Making Contact
December 12, 2019
The Response travels to Mexico City and puts the focus on the 2017 Puebla Earthquake ” a magnitude 7.1 quake that toppled over forty buildings and killed over 350 people.
In the aftermath of a disaster, information can mean the difference between life and death. After the earthquake hit in Mexico City, it wasnt just buildings that collapsed, the normal lines of communication that connect the city did as well. It was in this dangerous state of confusion and chaos that a group of friends using WhatsApp to share information ended up creating what later became known as Verificado19s, a spontaneous, grassroots initiative that consisted of a vast network of volunteers that traveled throughout the city to gather and verify information.
What can we learn from the efforts of Verificado19s? Are there replicable models and strategies that could be applied to future disasters? How can communities come together to respond to and challenge the spread of misinformation both in the context of acute disasters and also more generally? These are just some of the questions we explore in this episode.