Facebook launched a new Safety Check feature allowing users to notify friends and family they're safe during or after natural disasters.

Facebook's Chief Mark Zuckerberg introduced the new feature in Japan on Wednesday.The social networking giant described the Safety Check notification as "a simple and easy way to say you're safe and check on others."

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According to the company's blog post, "communication is most critical" both for people in the affected areas and for their families and friends eager for news during natural disasters.

After a devastating earthquake and tsunami struck Japan, the company's engineers in the country decided to devise a product to reconnect faster after a disaster, Facebook Vice President of product management Naomi Gleit said.

"The engineers have built a Disaster Message Board to make it easier to communicate with others," Gleit added.

Safety Check works once users activate the tool after a disaster. The feature will determine the user's location via the recent cities listed in profiles, the last location from the Nearby Friends feature or the place where they're using the Internet.

Users will get a notification from the social network asking them if they're safe. When they click the button "I'm safe," a news feed story is automatically generated.

The Safety Check feature will be available worldwide on Android, iOS devices, feature phones and the desktop version of Facebook.

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