Google Crisis Response is a team within

Google.org Google.org, founded in October 2005, is the charitable arm of Google, a multinational technology company. The organization has committed roughly US$100 million in investments and grants to nonprofits annually. The organization is noted for se ...

that "seeks to make critical information more accessible around natural disasters and humanitarian crises". The team has responded in the past to the

2010 Haiti earthquake A catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest department, approximately west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's c ...

2010 Pakistan floods The floods in Pakistan began in late July 2010, resulting from heavy monsoon rains in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Punjab and, Balochistan regions of Pakistan, which affected the Indus River basin. Approximately one-fifth of Pakistan's tot ...

2010–11 Queensland floods 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

, February

2011 Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. local time (23:51 UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the entire of the Canterbury region in the South Island, centred south-east ...

, and the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six mi ...

among other events, using Google resources and tools such as

Google Maps Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panoramic views of streets ( Street View), real-time traffic conditions, and rou ...

, Google Earth, Google Person Finder, and

Google Fusion Tables Google Fusion Tables was a web service provided by Google for data management. Fusion tables can be used for gathering, visualising and sharing data tables. Data are stored in multiple tables that Internet users can view and download. The web s ...

About

Google Crisis Response organizes emergency alerts and news updates relating to a crisis and publishes the information on its web properties or dedicated landing pages. It also provides opportunities for donation in collaboration with agencies like

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization established in the United Kingdom in 1919 to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic ...

International Medical Corps International Medical Corps is a global, nonprofit, humanitarian aid organization that provides emergency medical services, healthcare training and capacity building to those affected by disaster, disease or conflict." It seeks to strengthen med ...

, and local relief-providing bodies. Google also builds and provides tools to help crisis responders and affected people communicate and stay informed, such as Google Person Finder, Google Crisis Map,

Google Public Alerts Google Public Alerts was an online notification service owned by Google.org that sends safety alerts ( weather watches, warnings, advisories, safety instructions, etc.) and launched to the United States, Australia, Canada, Colombia, Japan, Ta ...

, Google Earth,

, Google Docs, and

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Tools

Google Person Finder

Google Person Finder helps in locating missing persons. It acts as a message board for survivors, families and friends of those affected in a natural disaster by putting in live updates about missing persons. During the

, several Japanese family members were able to locate each other using Google Person Finder.

Google Maps

supplies critical crisis information to the public through search engines. It is used to provide crisis information such as road closure, areas covered in debris, roads which are passable, and resources such as for emergency medical stations. Using the My Map feature, KPBS, a broadcast station, created a map which provided real-time updates on the San Diego wildfires in 2007. The map received more than two million views within a couple of days. Google Maps was used to track the path of

Hurricane Irene Hurricane Irene was a large and destructive tropical cyclone which affected much of the Caribbean and East Coast of the United States during late August 2011. The ninth named storm, first hurricane, and first major hurricane of the 2011 ...

which hit the US eastern coast in August 2011. Besides mapping, Google Maps also displayed 3–5 day forecasts for Hurricane Irene, showed evacuation routes, and marked out the coastal areas that were in danger of the impending storm surge.

Google Earth

Google Earth is a virtual globe that allows extensive customization with editing tools to draw shapes, add text, and integrate live feeds for information on earthquakes, cyclones, landslides, and oil spills as they occur. During the

, International Medical Corps and

Doctors Without Borders Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

used the Google Earth application to track response efforts and visualise cholera case origins.

Google Fusion Tables

is an application which gathers, visualises, and shares data online with response organisations and constituents. It instantly visualises the data ranging from shelter lists to power outages in the form of maps and charts. It also helps in playing a crucial role in crisis decision making by identifying data patterns. During the 2011 riots in London, this application was used in creating maps which showed indices of deprivation and riot locations.

Google Sites

facilitates creation and updates of a website with critical response information available from anywhere in the globe at any point of time. Its highlight being that it can be created or updated without the help of web developers or any knowledge of HTML programming making it easier to use. A variety of information can be put up like forms to collect information, videos of the crisis, photos of the devastation, and maps that protect important natural resources and that help in search and rescue operations.

, an independent organization involved in rescue of children in case of natural calamities, has been regularly using this application.

Donations

Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google, has donated several million dollars to the different relief organizations during natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and

Cyclone Nargis Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Nargis ( my, နာဂစ်, ur, نرگس ) was an extremely destructive and deadly tropical cyclone that caused the worst natural disaster in the recorded history of Myanmar during early May 2008. The cyclone m ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Google Crisis Response

Crisis Response Emergency management or disaster management is the managerial function charged with creating the framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters. Emergency management, despite its name, does not actuall ...

Philanthropic organizations based in the United States Appropriate technology organizations Emergency organizations