Social media and the web have become the go-to for real-time information when disasters strike.
It’s no surprise that the news of Friday’s 8.9-magnitude earthquake in Japan spread rapidly on Twitter, while live video feeds and blogs kept pace.
With unreliable cellphone service, social media is the only form of communication consistently available to people in Japan, says Brian Gillespie of Texas. He has reached out to friends in Japan through Twitter and Facebook. Mixi, Japan’s largest social networking site, has also been used to located loved ones, he says.
Like Gillespie’s friends, many in Japan are updating us on the country’s status via the Internet. In addition, thousands of reporters and citizen journalists worldwide are distributing their knowledge of the situation on homepages and social streams.
Now, hours after the initial quake, information about the earthquake and tsunami abound. Here’s a list of some of the best Japan earthquake resources online, as suggested by our readers.
What tools are you using to track the crisis? Let us know in the comments which ones we’ve missed.
Social Media
- Twitter: Hashtags #Japan, #JPQuake, #JapanQuake, #PrayForJapan, #Tsunami and #TsunamiCharity;real-time Tweet map; Save Japan (updates in Japanese); and the UN’s Must-Follow Twitterers
- Facebook: Japan Earthquake page and Solidarity With the Victims of the Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan 2011 page
- YouTube: Japan Tsunami and CitizenTube videos
- Flickr: Japan Earthquake photos and blog post
- Reddit: IAmA Survivor
Live Video and Blogs
- CNN: Live Blog
- BBC: Live Coverage
- NHK: Japan Live
- Al Jazeera: Japan Live
Other Resources
- Google: Crisis Response and Japan Person Finder
- Google: Real Time Earthquake
- RSS: Japan Earthquake feed
- Internet Radio: Tsunami news in your toolbar
- Interactive Map: Japan Earthquake
- Other Resource Lists: TV News Radio and SreeTips
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NYT – Japanese Earthquake Map
This Google Map from the New York Times displays photographs of the havoc caused by yesterday’s earthquake and tsunami. The map also contains information about locations affected by the quake.
YouTube Videos of the Japan Earthquake
Mibazaar has created a Google Map of geotagged YouTube videos of the Japanese earthquake. It is possible to view the videos from the map.
Japan Earthquake Photos
Google Earth Outreach have released this Google Map where anyone can share their photographs of the earthquake. The map has only just been created so, at the time of writing, no photographs have yet been added.
CNN – Earthquake Impact Map
CNN has put together a number of video reports, photos and stories about the Japanese earthquake on this Google Map.
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