September 12, 2023

AWS helps with humanitarian mapping

The Amazon Web Services (AWS) Disaster Response team is helping to create a map of the impacted region in Morocco to assist in post-earthquake rescue efforts with Development Seed, an organization focused on using geospatial tools to make a positive impact on communities globally. The AWS Disaster Response team is funding professional mappers that will dedicate their time and expertise to mapping the earthquake-affected areas in Morocco on OpenStreetMap (OSM), and engaging Amazon employee volunteers to assist.

Abe Diaz of the Disaster Relief by Amazon team hauls cargo netting across the tarmac at Lynden Pindling International Airport in Nassau.
I’ve helped Amazon deliver more than 23 million disaster relief items around the world. Here’s an inside look at how we respond when disaster strikes.
Abe Diaz, principal technical product manager for Disaster Relief by Amazon, shares how his team helps communities after hurricanes, earthquakes, and other disasters.
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September 11, 2023

What Amazon is doing to help people impacted by the Morocco earthquake

Amazon is responding to the destructive earthquake in Morocco that killed thousands and left even more injured or without shelter, according to local officials. The September 8 earthquake happened late at night and was centered in the Atlas Mountains, North Africa, outside of Marrakech, Morocco. Amazon has a small number of employees in Morocco, all of whom are safe and accounted for.

Within hours of the earthquake, the Amazon Disaster Relief team started coordinating with international and local aid groups to identify relief needs for survivors. As relief workers on the ground are able to make these determinations, we will activate our global, regional, and local logistics and product donation networks to get support where it is most needed. We are already responding to a request from the High Atlas Foundation, a nonprofit in Morocco, to donate 4,000 emergency lights.

An Amazon employee places a sticker that reads "Humanitarian goods" on a big box filled with relief items.
What Amazon is doing to help communities impacted by the wildfires in Maui
Amazon is working with local and national community groups to provide needed support and supplies.
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In addition to meeting ongoing product needs, Amazon also announced cash donations to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC); United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM); Banque Alimentaire, Morocco, food bank, which regularly supplies 200 organizations across Morocco; and the High Atlas Foundation.

How to help those impacted by the Morocco earthquake
If you are interested in helping, you are encouraged to donate through the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Donate now

Amazon has also activated an employee-giving campaign to allow Amazon employees from across the world to donate to relief efforts and is implementing the ability for many customers to donate directly to relief organizations through country-specific Amazon home pages in France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

Learn more about Disaster Relief by Amazon.