How is Technology Changing Disaster Management?

Technology is transforming every phase of disaster management. **Early warning systems:** Seismographs, radar systems, and satellite imaging can detect disasters hours or days in advance. Japan's early warning system detects earthquakes when the P wave arrives and gives warning before the S wave — this warning of a few seconds saves lives. **Drones and unmanned aerial vehicles:** Can access areas where human access is impossible in search-rescue operations. Can detect survivors under rubble with thermal cameras. **Artificial intelligence and big data:** Can create disaster maps by analyzing social media data. After the 2010 Haiti earthquake, survivor locations were detected from Twitter/X data. **Blockchain:** Provides transparency in international aid distribution, prevents corruption. **Challenges:** Technology access is unequal — the digital divide can prevent poor communities from benefiting from technology-assisted disaster management.