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Look who is helping you to track your loved ones in Nepal?

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Sonal Desai
New Update
Nepal earthquake

MUMBAI, INDIA: For those who have been unable to locate your loved ones in the aftermath of the destructive earthquake that shook Nepal and bordering areas, Google and Facebook have volunteered help.

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Search engine giant Google, which had launched its Person Finder tool in 2010 post the massive earthquake in Haiti, has released it to help friends and relatives of the victims that struck the Himalayan country on Saturday. The Web application, now downloaded by more than 1,000 people, allows individuals to post details and to search for the status of friends or relatives they believe were affected by the earthquake.

Google Person Finder has two boxes: "I'm looking for someone" and "I have information about someone." The app enables those looking for somebody to search for his or her name in the database. Conversely, stranded individuals can relay messages that they are safe or provide other relevant information via the app.

Part of Google's crisis response division, the Person Finder service is being offered in both English and Nepali. It can accept data from other missing persons' registries and display them together. Once a record is no longer relevant, an individual user can remove information from the database.

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Similarly, Facebook’s safety tool, Safety App, is being used to track the missing persons in the affected areas. Launched in October 2014, the app is used to generate alerts to Facebook friends of those trapped in the affected areas who, in turn, confirm that they are safe.

“Safety Check is our way of helping our community during natural disasters and gives you an easy and simple way to say you’re safe and check on all your friends and family in one place,” Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg had said in a post during the launch.

Facebook asks the person in affected area to update their safety status thus, generating a notification to friends on the social network about his or her safety, he added.

This feature lets one check the number of people who are safe and those affected by the calamity along with providing information about location where the person is trapped.

The app was launched after the 2011 Tsunami in Japan, which had impacted millions of people.

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