Google Messages for Japan, Twitter inspired 'Quakebook' bolster Japan relief

A Google blog post today announced its Messages for Japan website where people can contribute to the rebuilding efforts in Japan and have words of support automatically translated.

Some 150,000 people are still living in emergency shelters a month after a 9.0 earthquake and one of the worst tsunamis in history rocked northeastern Japan.



Two hours after the disaster, Google launched Person Finder. The website has helped those in shelters get word to loved ones about there whereabouts.



Meanwhile, "2:46: Aftershock: Stories from the Japan Earthquake" will be released as an eBook by Amazon on April 15. "Quakebook" editor Dan Ryan talked about the narratives compiled in the book in a recent interview with News 1130 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Proceeds of the book, which was inspired by a tweet from a blogger known on Twitter as @ourmanibiko, will benefit the Red Cross in Japan.