Social Technology helps locate Earth Quake victims.

Social networking website Facebook has helped locate the whereabouts of those stranded in Nepal and parts of India during the devastating earthquake.

Members of one Himmatramka family residing in Birgunj in Nepal marked themselves safe on Facebook. People from parts of West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh have also used this app mentioning that they are safe.

Facebook’s safety tool, ‘Safety App’, is being used to find those in the affected areas. Launched in October last, 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. The idea to launch such an app came after the 2011 Tsunami in Japan, which had caused massive devastation in the country as millions of people had little clue about the whereabouts of their kin for weeks.

“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,” – said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder.

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. 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 technology gathers information from the families and affected individuals, enabling them to upload information and locate their kin.