Friday, March 11, 2011

Sent to you by KC5FM via Google Reader: HOW TO: Follow the Japan
Earthquake Online via Mashable! by Meghan Peters on 3/11/11


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 SurvivorLive Video and Blogs
- CNN: Live Blog
- BBC: Live Coverage
- NHK: Japan Live
- Al Jazeera: Japan LiveOther Resources
- Google: Crisis Response and Japan Person Finder (Mashable‘s coverage
of these tools)
- RSS: Japan Earthquake feed
- Internet Radio: Tsunami news in your toolbar
- Interactive Map: Japan Earthquake
- Other Resource Lists: TV News Radio and SreeTips
Image courtesy of MapLarge.com


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