Facebook announced the new service in a blog post Wednesday. Safety Check is available for users worldwide, and is compatible with multiple platforms and devices.
The tool is activated automatically when disaster strikes. If you are within the affected area, you’ll receive a Facebook notification asking if you are safe. Your location is determined by listed cities on your profile, your last check-in, and where you are using the Internet. You can then check “I’m Safe” and both a notification and News Feed story will generate in an update.
The Safety Check tool was developed following the launch of the Disaster Message Board in Japan at the time of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The Disaster Message Board service helped connect survivors with family as communication lines failed, and the lessons learned from this situation resulted in the new, global tool.
Source: zdnet