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Facebook’s new natural disaster ‘Safety Check’ will let users provide crisis updates to friends and families

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By John McCarthy, Opinion Editor

October 16, 2014 | 2 min read

Facebook has launched a new feature called ‘Safety Check’ which allows users to post updates to their friends and families during natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis - assuming they still have a connection to the web.

The feature is live worldwide on all Facebook platforms

The social network will ask users in the geographical boundary of a natural disaster if they are safe - or in danger. With the system, users will also be able to check up on neighbours and those they know, to keep track of any given disaster.

Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg launched the feature in Japan on Wednesday, making the 'Safety Check' live for all Facebook users worldwide.

The company released a statement: “In times of disaster or crisis, people turn to Facebook to check on loved ones and get updates. It is in these moments that communication is most critical both for people in the affected areas and for their friends and families anxious for news.

"Our engineers in Japan took the first step toward creating a product to improve the experience of reconnecting after a disaster. They built the Disaster Message Board to make it easier to communicate with others."

This latest announcement comes during a tour of Asia from Facebook’s top officials with Mark Zuckerberg and chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg meeting Samsung vice chairman Lee Jay-Yong in Seoul earlier this week to discuss the social network's entry into the smartphone market.

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