Helping Those Affected by Earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria

Our thoughts are with everyone affected by the recent earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria. As rescue operations continue in both regions, we’re supporting relief efforts and taking steps across our apps to help keep people informed and connected. 

Supporting Crisis Response Efforts

Crisis Response on Facebook: Communication is critical in times of crisis and people in earthquake-affected areas continue to use our tools to stay in touch with loved ones, ask for help and offer support. Safety Check was activated following the earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria, allowing people to mark themselves as safe on Facebook, letting their friends and family know they are OK. So far, hundreds of thousands of people have marked themselves as safe. We also activated Community Help to make it easier for people to ask for help and offer assistance to those affected.

Boosting Our Blood Donation Tool: We are working with local NGO The Turkish Red Crescent to amplify campaigns promoting the blood donation tool on Facebook, which lets donors find nearby blood donation centers that need support. 

Reliable Access to Trusted Information on WhatsApp: We have partnered with Turkish rescue organization AKUT to launch an information helpline on WhatsApp that will provide secure and reliable information about donations, volunteering and rescue operations. To use the free service, simply save the number +905493014706 in your phone contacts and then text the word ‘Merhaba’ (hello) in a WhatsApp message to get started.

Helping People Access Resources: Our Data for Good datasets are being used by NGOs, like the World Food Programme, to verify connectivity data in affected areas using our network coverage maps to support their work as part of the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster. Our datasets have also been used to develop an initial situation report and disaster maps for the crisis, released by CrisisReady (Direct Relief & Harvard).

Supporting and Amplifying NGO Relief Efforts:  We are donating $550,000, directly to local relief, rescue, and recovery operations in both Türkiye and Syria. This donation in cash and ad credits will help support organizations like the The Turkish Red Crescent, AHBAP, AKUT among others, to amplify their online fundraising campaigns and help access information related to rescue and relief efforts.

We have seen people around the world use our tools to support each other and raise several million dollars through fundraisers on Facebook and Instagram to help those impacted. You can find crisis relief fundraisers on Facebook to help with the efforts.

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