Google has launched a 'Person Finder' tool for the people of Nepal looking for someone lost in the earthquake that has killed over 2,700 people in the region so far, with 5,000 injured and tens of thousands more displaced.

The earthquake reached 7.8 magnitude on the Richter scale, making it the largest in the region since 1934. Nepal is receiving aid from international organizations alongside working on finding displaced residents.

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Early reports say the earthquake struck between Kathmandu and Pokhara, meaning almost one million people may have been affected by the aftershock. The terrifying quake destroyed thousands of homes.

Google uses its Person Finder as a crowd-sourced effort for people to document where others are, alongside searching for people. The idea is that people lost can add information so friends and family will be able to find them if they're in a hospital or asylum site.

The system is available on mobile for the residents if they don't have a desktop available. Considering Nepal's population is quite small and also not well financed, having this mobile app will mean a lot to the search.

There is plenty of information that one can input, including name, age, sex, address, alternative names, photos, work, and other identifying characteristics. Friends and family will then be able to search for this information and Google will show it to all.

Facebook has also launched a "Safety Check" update feature allowing people to update their status to say they're okay and safe. It's a smart way to utilize the social network using geo-location to pinpoint the exact location in real time.

As we move into a more connected world, Google and Facebook are trying to show their services can be used for survival and disasters. Facebook's is more useful on the basis friends and family will already have the person added but Google's is also useful in case friends don't have Facebook.

Nepal is looking to work towards assisting displaced residents alongside finding survivors and people unaccounted for. It's the first earthquake in the region since 2012 and the largest so far in 2015.

TagsNepal, earthquake, natural disaster