Google and the Japan earthquake/tsunami
Google Tsunami Alert
The magnitude of the 8.9 earthquake that hit Japan today (and subsequent tsunami) not only hit the rolling news fare of BBC, CNN etc but also google.com which added the following Tsuanmi alert:
Tsunami Alert for New Zealand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Hawaii, and others. Waves expected over the next few hours, caused by 8.9 earthquake in Japan.
In addition, Google has also launched a Person Finder tool for those affected by the earthquake – particularly useful as Japanese mobile networks have been affected, limiting communications. It did the same thing after the Chritschurch and Haiti earthquakes.
Interesting to see Google reacting quickly to events and using the most visited webpage in the world to put out public service information in this way. Apart from from changing the graphics on its Google Doodles, it’s rare to see anything other than navigation on the Google homepage.