14 DAY TRIAL // Following the tragic events that took place on Saturday, the two tech companies joined Nepal’s earthquake relief efforts and launched two services meant to help the people involved in the calamity.
Shortly after news of the earthquake broke, Mark Zuckerberg announced in a Facebook post that they had activated the Safety Check tool for those struck by the disaster to let their family and friends know of their status.
This useful feature was launched last year in October as an updated version of the Disaster Message Board, the tool which had been specially designed for the victims of the earthquake in Japan.
Once the tool was activated, people from the affected area received a Facebook notification inquiring about their current state. The Safety Check allows them to say whether they are safe and also check out the people who have done the same to see if someone they know is among them.
"When disasters happen, people need to know their loved ones are safe," Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post. "It's moments like this that being able to connect really matters."
Google also revived a helpful tool
Somewhat similar to Facebook’s Safety Tool, Google also relaunched its own feature known as Person Finder, which is basically a searchable database meant to assist victims in locating their relatives.
Since the database is public, everyone is free to add useful information regarding those involved in the earthquake.
This feature gives relatives the possibility to look for a certain person by entering their name or even just a part of it or upload information about the victims, whether it is about someone who has been found or someone who is still missing.
People praised the tech companies initiative to help out the people in need communicate with their loved ones and let them know they are okay by being able to get real-time information on the situation of the people from the affected areas.