Nepal earthquake: Google launches Person Finder service to help track missing people

New Delhi: Google has launched its Person Finder service to help track missing people after a massive earthquake measuring 7.9 magnitude hit Nepal on Saturday. Users can go here to use the Person Finder service and can share and look for information about missing persons affected by the 2015 Nepal earthquake.

The Person Finder website allows anyone to list a person missing and to search the database for names. The interface is very simple to use. If you have any information about someone, go to the right (blue) box and enter the details. And if you are looking for someone, go to the left (green) box, enter the person's name or parts of the name to know the status about him. You can also create a new record for the missing person.

All data entered are available to the public and viewable and usable by anyone. Google does not review or verify the accuracy of this data.

Google Person Finder is a web application that allows individuals to post and search for the status of relatives or friends affected by a disaster, said Google in a blogpost.

The Google tool had helped people track the missing during the Uttarakhand floods in 2013, after a 8.9-magnitude earthquake that triggered a 13-foot tsunami in Japan in 2011, and also during the Bostom Marathon bombings.

Google Person Finder, a project of the Google Crisis Response division of Google.org, was built by Google engineers in response to the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti to help those affected by the earthquake connect with their loved ones.

Google Person Finder can also accept data from other similar registries and display them together at one place.

The service is powered by individual users who update and remove records when no longer relevant. It was also active during the 2010 Pakistan and Brazil floods.

####

iframe[id^='twitter-widget-']{ width:100% !important;}