Haiti Earthquake Twitter Lists

Haiti experienced a 7.0 earthquake on Tuesday, January 12. On January 13, I began following people on Twitter who were writing about the earthquake. I have now created three lists of Twitter people. Feel free to follow any of these lists. (You will need a Twitter account first. Go to Twitter.com to sign up for an account.)

Here are the three lists (more information about them below):

People tweeting information about Haiti: http://twitter.com/#/list/RIElliott/haiti

People tweeting from Haiti: http://twitter.com/#/list/RIElliott/in-haiti

People tweeting about the logistics of relief and rescue efforts: http://twitter.com/#/list/RIElliott/haiti-logistics

I will continue to update these lists. Feel free to reply to me on Twitter (@RIElliott) to give me any information that will assist me in keeping these lists current or leave me a comment on this blog.


(This photo is of a man named Patrick who was dug out of the rubble of his house after 18 hours. John McHoul posted this photo on his blog site called Heartline Haiti. The address is http://heartlineministries.org/Blog20.aspx John is on the ground helping others. Follow his blog posts for updates on what he is doing.)

My first Twitter list is just for those who are tweeting with information about Haiti and the earthquake. Many of these are not in Haiti. Some are relief organizations tweeting from outside Haiti. Others are those who are searching for relatives in Haiti. (I am following 131 Twitter accounts on this list.)

This Haiti list can be found at http://twitter.com/#/list/RIElliott/haiti

As I followed the people on the above list, I discovered that some of them were either currently in Haiti or on their way to Haiti. Therefore I created a new list which I call "In Haiti". As I get new information, I will revise this list. For me, this is the most important list because these are tweets from people on the ground in Haiti. I think it would be most helpful for these people to use names of buildings and streets to assist others in their rescue and relief efforts. Many of these people are seeking to go out on the streets to help people. We need to keep the internet going (by providing diesel fuel to the internet providers to run their generators). As well, these on-the-ground Twitter people can tweet about buildings where people are trapped and still calling out. There are 47 Twitter people that I am following on this list. Please leave me a comment or send me a message on Twitter if you know of others on the ground in Haiti who I should add to this list.

This In Haiti list can be found at http://twitter.com/#/list/RIElliott/in-haiti

My third Twitter list was created to include those working on the logistics and organization of the relief effort. For example, one person/organization was tweeting about the condition of the roads in various locations. I also include accounts which tweet about the maps which are being created. There are presently 22 Twitter accounts on this list. I will add more as I see tweets which address the logistics of the rescue and relief operation.

This Logistics Haiti list can be found at http://twitter.com/#/list/RIElliott/haiti-logistics

What I am hearing so far is that rescue and relief is not reaching the most desperate. Hopefully on this third day after the earthquake, people will get the water and food they need.

Urgent needs:
1. Water, food and shelter needs met

2. Diesel fuel for the generators of internet providers so they can keep operational

3. GPS locations or addresses for buildings where people are still trapped and calling out.

4. Leadership: Someone or organization to take charge and coordinate relief efforts.

Special call out to the Tech community:

With all the tools at our disposal, how can we help with the communication and coordination needs during this crisis?