Facebook & Google Launch Tools For Nepal’s Earthquake Relief

Earlier we had reported that Apple had launched a donations feature through its iTunes Store in which users could choose to donate varying sums of money to the American Red Cross, and where 100% of the donations would go towards the Nepal earthquake relief. It also looks like Facebook and Google have recently launched initiatives of their own.

In the case of Facebook, they have activated their Safety Check feature for the region of Nepal.  For those unfamiliar with the feature, basically it was launched last year with the intention of allowing those in disaster areas to let their friends and family know they are safe. This will be based on your location and Facebook will send users a notification to indicate their safe status, after which family members and friends can launch the tool and check up on their loved ones.

As for Google, they have launched something similar with their Person Finder tool. This particular tool allows users to search for loved ones to see if they are okay or they can also use the tool to post information about others who might be injured but otherwise in a stable condition. This feature of Google’s was used back in 2010 during the Chilean earthquake and was launched again in 2011 following the earthquake in Japan.

Both Facebook and Google’s tools are now live and if you have any loved ones in the region who you have yet to hear from, head on over to either website to see if there are any details that you can find about them.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Web
Tags: Facebook, Google