GDACS specific Disclaimer and Terms of Use:

  1. GDACS is a cooperation framework among United Nations (OCHA - Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and UNOSAT – United Nations Satellite Center) and the European Commission (JRC - Joint Research Centre and ECHO - Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid). GDACS aims at providing disaster notifications and impact estimations to the humanitarian community and disaster management professionals worldwide, after major sudden-onset disasters that potentially require international assistance..

  2. GDACS products are the result of models, whereby data from scientific institutions and information from authoritative domains (such as official meteorological bulletins) are used to calculate, through (semi)automatic algorithms, the possible impact of sudden-onset disasters with regard to the potential need for international assistance.

  3. GDACS notifications in the case of earthquakes, tsunamis and tropical cyclones are automatic, produced by algorithms and not reviewed by human experts before being issued. They may be subject to uncertainties and errors. The information and data contained in GDACS is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including, but not limited to, any implied warranty against infringement of merchantability, integration, satisfactory quality and fitness for a particular purpose.

  4. GDACS services are not meant to substitute nor to override any official information or alert message from local or national disaster management authorities. Only such delegated authorities, in all cases, have and retain the mandate to issue alert messages to the population, to order evacuation or adopt other life-protection measures. Expert assessment of the situation and response plans must always be carried out by competent decision-makers in designated positions of authority.

  5. GDACS notifications and automatic impact estimations may require further validation. They should not be used for decision making without prior confirmation of their validity. Links to official alert providers and original data sources are given in the site (such as the World Meteorological Organisation, UNESCO-IOC, etc). However, the reference verification sources remain the ones of the scientific institutions and national authorities respectively mandated by law with event’s forecasting, monitoring, surveillance and with emergency management.

  6. GDACS notifications are issued in near-real-time, but no guarantee is provided as to the completeness or timeliness of the information. The system can be subject to unspecified downtime, server reboots or other technical temporary malfunctions. Similarly, changes to the data might occur frequently and without prior notice.

  7. GThe designations employed and the presentation of material on this website do not imply the expression of any opinion on the part of the Governing Board of GDACS concerning the legal status of any country, territory, area, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The depiction and use of boundaries, geographic names and related data shown on the map and included in lists, tables, documents, and databases on this web site are not warranted to be error free nor do they necessarily imply official endorsement or acceptance by GDACS or its member organizations.

  8. THE GDACS STAKEHOLDERS AND ADVISORY BOARD (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, UN-OCHA AND UNOSAT) DO NOT ASSUME ANY RESPONSIBILITY OR LIABILITY WHATSOEVER WITH REGARD TO THE INFORMATION PROVIDED BY GDACS AND WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGE, INJURY OR LOSS OF LIFE THAT MIGHT RESULT FROM THE USE OF ITS CONTENT.