Post-Earthquake Family Roll Call
Helps families check in after an earthquake, rank unconfirmed members by risk, and recalculate a safe meeting point.
Post-Earthquake Family Roll Call is a mobile app for families to confirm safety and decide where to meet after an earthquake. Family members register regular locations such as school, home, and work in advance. After an earthquake, the first screen ranks the people to confirm first by shaking intensity, tsunami zone, and last known location.
Each person can report safe, injured, or trapped with one tap, or send a minimal status packet by SMS on weak networks. If the planned meeting point falls within a tsunami zone or an area with blocked roads, the app suggests alternative locations that everyone may still be able to reach.
Rather than piling up "where are you" messages like a group chat, it continuously consolidates unconfirmed members and the next meeting decision.
Why now
On July 17, 2026, a 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck offshore from Chiapas, Mexico. Shaking extended from Mexico City to El Salvador, and coastal tsunami risk had to be assessed for a time. S1 S2 Searches for "mexico earthquake" in the United States reached about 100000+ over the past 168 hours, up about 900%, and remained active as of July 18, 2026, 00:33 UTC. This indicates that many families are currently seeking post-earthquake information, making this a timely moment to consolidate scattered safety messages into a clear roll-call and meeting process.
Target user
People in earthquake- or tsunami-risk areas whose family members are spread across school, home, and work during the day. They open it after a major earthquake, when communications are disrupted and they need to quickly identify who has not checked in and where to meet.
Minimal entry point
Start with family and regular-location setup, a three-status post-earthquake roll call, an unconfirmed list, and SMS fallback. Use USGS earthquake data, Twilio for SMS, and OpenStreetMap for maps and place data.
Punching above its weight
Create Spanish-language family earthquake contact-sheet and meeting-point templates for event-driven searches such as "mexico earthquake today," then let users import a template to set up a family plan.
Competitors & gaps
- American Red Cross Emergency AppGoogle
- Provides offline guidance, family plans, and an "I’m Safe" check-in, but does not prioritize members by local shaking intensity and tsunami risk or recalculate a shared destination when a meeting point fails.
- Facebook Safety CheckGoogle
- Lets people in an affected area mark themselves safe for friends and family, but relies on Facebook-triggered events and social connections. It lacks a household-specific unconfirmed queue, injury status, and meeting-point decisions.
How it makes money
Charge per family subscription. Keep basic roll calls free, and include SMS status packets and long-term multi-person sync in paid plans.
The case against
The strongest case against this is that post-earthquake location, road, and communications data are often incomplete. If the app gives a seemingly certain but outdated meeting recommendation, it could be more dangerous than a simple plan agreed by the family in advance.