A 9.0 earthquake is estimated to strike only once every 300 years. Japan, just experienced a massive 8.9 earthquake causing major power outages, fires, severe structural damage, and a devastating Tsunami’s at a height of near 30 feet.
Twitter immediately became the emergency epicenter for spreading news and communicating with friends and family. The country’s phone system was down in less than an hour after the quake. This resulted in Twitter’s “Tweet-o-Meter quickly spiking up to over 1,200 tweets per minute.
It seems social media is even quicker at spreading news than news agencies. Twitter users spread news of the “tsunami’s estimated time of arrival on U.S. shores” even before an official government warning went out.
Google also reacted to the devastating natural disaster through providing an online tool that helps people find other people and provide important information on missing people. The site includes “important resources, maps, and other related information.”
The tool Google launched is known as Person Finder, an interactive database, which allows users to “search for missing persons online, or submit information about people who are injured or were missing.” Person Finder has been a central database where people looking for loved ones, and government and aid agencies looking to coordinate efforts can come together join efforts.
This new tool currently lists approximately 7,200 records and the number continues to rise as news about the catastrophe spreads around the globe. However, Google does warn users that the accuracy of the information is not verified because it is made available to the public and usable by everyone.
Person Finder was first introduced after Haiti’s earthquake and has been most recently used for the Christchurch earthquake, a massive 6.3 quake that hit Christchurch New Zealand on Feb. 22.
Person Finder for the Japanese earthquake was built by the Google Crises Response Team and can be found on Google’s Crisis Response website.
Through Twitter providing an efficient channel of communication online and Google showing maps, disaster bulletin boards, and personal contact information, these social media giants have provided powerful tools to help aid Japan in a time of disaster.
If you would also like to aid Japan during this time through donation, visit – The Red Cross, Save the Children, or Global Giving.
Jason Coon
