Guatemala

At the end of April and the beginning of May 2020, Peten, the northern province or department of Guatemala, experienced severe forest fires that forced Guatemala’s National Coordinating Agency for Disaster Reduction (CONRED) to request the activation of the International Charter Space and Major Disasters to map the geographical extent of the fires.

To support members of Guatemala’s technical, inter-institutional, GIS and remote sensing team for disaster management (GT-SIGER) in addressing the fires and their impact, Dr. Alexander Ariza, a visiting scientist with the UN-SPIDER programme, conducted a webinar on 7 May 2020 to highlight online products and resources that are available to map the burn severity of forest fires.  

Forest fires have a major influence on ecosystems and contribute to climate... read more

The United Nations Platform for Space-based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response (UN-SPIDER) and the National Council for Science and Technology of Guatemala (CONCYT), through the National Secretariat for Science and Technology (SENACYT), co-organize a seminar in Guatemala from 30 to 31 October about the technological and institutional progress made in Guatemala in prevention, preparedness and response during disaster situations.

Twenty years after Hurricane Mitch made landfall in Guatemala, experts from various disciplines gathered to discuss the advances in science in relation to the different phases of disaster management. In November 1998, Hurricane Mitch killed about 9,000 people and displaced almost half a million. The... read more

In recent decades, Guatemala has been experiencing disasters triggered by geologic and hydro-meteorological hazards that have impacted urban and rural communities. In order to increase the country’s capacity to make use of space-based information to address these hazards, UN-SPIDER, in conjunction with the National Secretariat of the Council of Science and Technology of Guatemala (SENACYT) and the Executive Secretariat of National Coordinating Agency for Disaster Reduction of Guatemala (SE-CONRED) held three-day training for a technical inter-institutional team. The training took place at the GIS Laboratory of the Faculty of Agriculture of San Carlos University (USAC), Guatemala City.

Experts from the Agustin Codazzi Geographic Institute (IGAC, in its role as one of the UN-SPIDER Regional Support Offices) and of the Federal University of Santa Maria in Rio Sul Brazil conducted the training course that targeted 25 participants from 12 government agencies, faculty members from... read more

The International Charter: Space and Major Disasters has been triggered to provide satellite-based emergency maps in response to heavy rains that triggered a massive landslide in the "El Cambray 2" urban settlement in Santa Catarina Pinula, Guatemala. The mechanism was activated on 7 October 2015, at 02:57 (UTC+02:00) by the USGS on behalf of the National Emergency Operations Center of Guatemala. The NEOC of Guatemala requested the activation of the Charter via CONAE in Argentina.

Around 160 bodies have been recovered as of 6 October and the NEOC estimates that more than 300 persons are still missing. Search and rescue efforts are being conducted to search for survivors in houses covered by trees and debris.

CONRED officials have declared the area uninhabitable. Over 230 people are being relocated. Officials from CONRED... read more

On 7 November 2012 at 10:35 am local time, the southwestern region of Guatemala was impacted by a strong earthquake that provoked fatalities and losses. The 7.4 magnitude earthquake had its epicenter 35 kilometers south of the Port of Champerico in the Retalhuleu Department. The National Coordinating Agency for Disaster Reduction of Guatemala (CONRED) conducted a damage and needs assessment and confirmed that most damages took place in the highlands. On 8 November 2012 the President of the Republic of Guatemala, Mr. Otto Perez Molina, declared a State of Public Calamity in San Marcos, Quetzaltenango, Quiche and Huehuetenango. In order to obtain satellite imagery and maps of the affected area, the Executive Secretariat of CONRED contacted UN-SPIDER to request the activation of the International Charter Space and Major Disasters, which was subsequently activated by the Argentina Civil Protection Agency (SIFEM) on behalf of CONRED on 8 November 2012. More information is available on... read more

UN-SPIDER's Regional Support Office CATHALAC (Water Center for the Humid Tropics of Latin America and the Caribbean) quickly reacted to yesterday's eruption of Guatemala's Fuego Volcano. In the context of SERVIR, the experts published a preliminary analysis of the volcano eruption including NASA MODIS satellite imagery, NOAA GOESS data as well as prognostics on winds and further volcanic activities. Additionally, via CATHALAC's GeoViewer, several pre- and post-disaster images are available tracking the development of the ash cloud. These 14 departments are affected by the ash cloud covering 89,460 hectares of land: Santiago Atitlán, San Lucas Tolimán, Chicacao, Pochuta, Acatenango, Santa Barbara, Patulul, Yepocapa, Alotenango, Rio Bravo, San Juan Bautista, Escuintla, Siquinalá y Santa Lucia Cotzumalguapa.

After the... read more

In recent years, Guatemala has been affected by a variety of natural hazards including tropical storms, landslides, droughts and volcanic eruptions. Such events have triggered disasters that have forced the government to request humanitarian assistance, and to rethink its reconstruction efforts with risk management practices in mind. In order to generate and make better use of geospatial information to support risk management and emergency response several government agencies are setting up the Inter-institutional Remote Sensing and Geographical Information Group for Risk Management and Disaster Response. This was a key recommendation made by UN-SPIDER during the 2010 Technical Advisory Mission to Guatemala.

The main goals established by the group include: strengthening the capacity of the State of Guatemala to generate information to be used in the decision-making process through a multi-sectorial and inter-institutional approach; and increasing the use of... read more

UN-SPIDER’s Regional Support Office CATHALAC prepared a preliminary analysis of the effects of land subsidence in Mixco, Guatemala using space-based information. The analysis was prepared in the context of SERVIR and with the collaboration of Guatemala’s Ministry of the Environment (MARN), the National Protected Areas Council (CONAP), and UN-SPIDER.

In summarizing the analysis, it is noted that overlaying the map of the area’s hydro-geology allows one to see that the communities affected are located not only above an aquifer, but also near a system of geological faults, both of which may be contributing to the land subsidence. Additionally, the preliminary analysis shows that the urbanized area above the aquifer has been rapidly expanding at a rate of approximately 28% per year, from approx. 84 hectares in 1986 to approx. 680 hectares in 2011.

In an effort to showcase the capacity of geo-viewers to enhance situational awareness concerning risks associated with earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, Thermopylae Sciences and Technology of the United States, the National Coordinating Agency for Disaster Reduction (CONRED), Mariano Galvez University, and the Center for Natural Disaster Research and Mitigation (CIMDEN) from Guatemala are joining forces to demonstrate the capacities of the 3D-UDOP geo-viewer developed by Thermopylae S&T to display information about these risks in Guatemala and to facilitate the visualization of potential impacts in case of earthquakes in particular areas of the country.

This activity is conducted in the context of the SPIDER Thematic Partnership for Latin America and the Caribbean, which has been established by the UN-SPIDER Programme to support National Platforms for Disaster Reduction that have been set up according to the guidelines proposed by ISDR as vehicles to reach the goals... read more

On March 5, 2010 the UN-SPIDER attended a meeting with the Lady Executive Director of SEGEPLAN (Secretaría de Planificación y Programación de la Presidencia), Dr. Karin Slowing Umaña to discuss a Technical Advisory Mission (TAM)  to be conducted by UN-SPIDER to Guatemala later this year. 

The mission, to be conducted at the request of SEGEPLAN, builds up on previous interactions between SEGEPLAN and UN-SPIDER. The mission will be conducted to assess current institutional capacities regarding access to and use of space-based information for disaster-risk reduction and emergency response, as a means to provide to SEGEPLAN and other government agencies advice on how to improve institutional capacities in this respect. As in previous cases, the mission will target four key issues: policies regarding the use of space-based information for disaster-risk reduction and emergency response, access to space-based information, use of such information including spatial data... read more