Case Studies

Rebuilding after disaster In July of 2019, a series of earthquakes and aershocks shook Batanes, the northernmost province of the Philippines. Nearly three thousand people in the town of Itbayat were affected, many of who were living in makeshi tents in the village plaza. Officials struggled to prioritize relief action with old maps and outdated Landsat imagery. Geo-surveys and Mapping (GSMI), a Philippines-based company specializing in GIS, tasked Maxar satellites to collect the affected areas. With access to post- event imagery, they were able to provide rapid damage assessments to assist the Philippines National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council in emergency management through DOST-ASTI (Department of Science and Technology - Advanced Science Technology Institute). Continued periodic comparative analysis of very high-resolution satellite imagery (VHRSI) helps officials observe, verify and guide decisions on rehabilitation programs. Working in one of the most natural-disaster-prone countries on the planet, officials in the Philippines need access to tools and data that will help them build resilience and train disaster response teams. The ability to quickly access fresh images can save lives, avoid further damage and return people to their homes more quickly and safely. REBUILDING AFTER DISASTER info@maxar.com maxar.com Recovery from ruin Super typhoon Meranti (Ferdie), the equivalent of a Category-5 hurricane, struck the island of Itbayat in 2016, causing extensive damage. The Batanes earthquakes and aershocks, just three years later, le 209 homes damaged, 182 of which were completely destroyed. Two schools in the town suffered damage, as did the District Hospital where patients and injured residents had gathered outside before later moving to a covered basketball court for shelter from heavy rains. case study "Not only did we greatly benefit from the high- resolution of Maxar satellite imagery to assess damaged buildings and roads, but having the ability to directly task the Maxar constellation allowed us to capture critical post-event imagery for more effective emergency response." — Ms. Josephine Minerva President of Geo-Surveys & Mapping Inc. (GSMI) Pre-image before earthquake

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