CrisisCast – Real-Time Disaster Alert Bot

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  code on github

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  Event Bridge schedule

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  readme on my github

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  deployment and test run on lambda

🚨 Inspiration

Disasters like earthquakes strike without warning, especially in regions where people lack early alert systems. I wanted to build a free, simple, and accessible solution for anyone with a phone to stay informed — no matter where they are.

🛠️ What it does

CrisisCast is a real-time disaster alert bot. It uses AWS Lambda to automatically fetch data from the USGS earthquake API and sends alerts to users on Telegram if a significant earthquake is detected. It's scheduled hourly using AWS EventBridge, and runs completely serverless and free.

⚙️ How I built it

• Created a Python-based AWS Lambda function
• Integrated Telegram bot API
• Pulled data from USGS GeoJSON feed
• Automated execution with AWS EventBridge
• Tested everything on a phone and budget laptop using free-tier services

What I learned

• AWS Lambda and serverless architecture basics
• Telegram Bot integration and HTTP APIs
• Parsing JSON feeds in Python
• Setting up EventBridge scheduling

Challenges

• Limited hardware (Redmi A2+ and a basic laptop)
• No prior experience with AWS services
• Time constraint: built the whole project in under 6 hours!
• Telegram Bot ID and API token setup was tricky but solved with some google search help

What's next

• Add support for other disaster types: floods, storms, wildfires
• Build a UI for users to select regions and disaster types
• Make multi-language support for broader global reach

Built With

• amazon-web-services
• api
• bot
• earthquake
• eventbridge
• geojson
• lambda
• python
• telegram
• usgs