On Line Disaster Response Community: People as Sensors of High Magnitude Disasters Using Internet GIS.

The Indian Ocean tsunami (2004) and Hurricane Katrina (2005) reveal the coming of age of the on-line disaster response community. Due to the integration of key geospatial technologies (remote sensing - RS, geographic information systems - GIS, global positioning systems - GPS) and the Internet, on-line disaster response communities have grown. They include the traditional aspects of disaster preparedness, response, recovery, mitigation, and policy as facilitated by governmental agencies and relief response organizations.