In the wake of the devastating quake that hit Japan last night and the tsunamis to follow this morning, the internet once again plays a key role in aiding a country in a time of need. The quake, an 8.9 on the Richter Scale, is the strongest quake on record to hit Japan and results were horrifying. Although the U.N. and Australia were quick to send aid, many were and are lost without methods of communicating with their families and friends.

Luckily, search giant, Google, has stepped in with a tool for locating information on lost people. Only a few thousand records are up in the database, but entries are growing as the day goes by. People can quickly search for information on a missing person or enter in information either for themselves or others present that were thought to be missing or have no other way of reaching people they know.

Phone service, electricity, and nearly every form of communication were compromised by the quake and tsunami. What little can be found and used quickly is of utmost value right now and we all truly hope the tool remains an asset of hope. The west coast of the U.S. will face the after effect of tsunamis hitting our coast and it is technology like this that keeps everyone well-informed and helps bring order to chaos.

We hope tools like this prove to be unnecessary over the course of the next few days and only serve to reassure people that their loved ones are fine.

Google Person Finder