Published March 11, 2011
Commuters gather information on the earthquake while stranded at a Tokyo railway station. Train services were suspended Friday after the largest earthquake in Japan's recorded history slammed the eastern coasts Friday. (AP)
The effects of Friday’s earthquake and tsunami in Japan were felt across the U.S. Waves from the tsunami washed across Hawaii and the West Coast and those with loved ones in Japan scrambled to get information on conditions in the country.
Google reacted by launching a person finder tool that aims to help family and friends connect when it’s otherwise difficult to do so.
The person finder is part of a crisis response page filled with tools for those seeking information on Japan and resources for those in the country. Google did the same for the Christchurch earthquake in February and numerous other events over the past three years.
In Boston and across the world, family and friends tried to use social media to get information on the quake ravaged country.
On Twitter, @Blue_Rose_ said she was able to reach friends and family in Gifu, a city in south-central Japan, online. Gifu was not hit as hard as many other parts of the country.
Twitter-user @kshw, said that they were still trying to locate family members in Sendai, a city on the northeastern coast of Japan, but needed “more localized/detailed info than google [crisis response] provides.”
As of Friday afternoon, Google was tracking over 7,000 records.
Peter Grilli, president of the Japan Society of Boston told WBUR he hasn’t had success reaching people in northeastern Japan. He had been in touch with friends in Tokyo who told him there was a low level of damage in the city, but communication was difficult and public transit was halted.
What about you – Do you have family and friends in Japan? Have you been able to reach them? Did Google help?
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