Rescue workers search for bodies as a stretcher is kept ready after an earthquake hit, in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Rescue workers search for bodies as a stretcher is kept ready after an earthquake hit, in Kathmandu, Nepal April 25, 2015. Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar

On April 25, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake had hit Nepal and since then the death toll has been on the rise. Companies like Google, Facebook and Viber are activating their tools and features to ensure that the survivors of earthquake connect with their family and friends through their technology features, as per reports.

According to report on The Indian Express, various technology tools and apps like the Google Person Finder, Facebook Safety Check and Viber can be used to get information about earthquake survivors.

Google’s Person Finder is a web application, where individuals can get information about their relatives or friends affected in a calamity. As per the information provided on Google Person Finder’s webpage, NGOs, Press and others can contribute to the database and get updates with the use of the Person Finder API, based on the PFIF open standard.

Google Person Finder has been launched in 40 languages and Google claims, it ensures that the Person Finder is available in the most common languages spoken in disaster prone countries.

Google had built the ‘Person Finder’ in response to Haiti earthquake that had occurred in 2010. The search engine giant wanted to help those affected connect with their relatives and friends. Google Person Finder accepts data from other registries in a common format and searches over all data, as per information provided on Google Person Finder webpage.

Through Facebook’s Safety Check feature, individuals can inform their friends and relatives about their safety status. Facebook launched this feature in October 2014 and it tracks people in an area that has been hit by any natural calamity. Facebook will prompt the users to update their status so that the social network can inform the survivor’s relatives about their status, reports The Indian Express.

Viber also joins the league to help survivors in Nepal. The instant messaging and VoIP app has switched off ‘Viber Out’ that will facilitate users in Nepal to make free calls to landline and mobile numbers anywhere. This tool is perfect for users who have an active internet connection, as per The Indian Express report. The report also mentions that many telcom companies in India like Airtel, MTNL, BSNL and Idea have slashed call tariffs to Nepal.

(For feedback/comments, mail the writer at pragyan.ibtimes@gmail.com)

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