A Force More Powerful

In the wake of the powerful earthquake that has rocked Chile, a nation known for Internet savvy government policies and a population fond of social network sites, it may not be surprising to the development of the simple Google-powered "Person Finder" widget, which can be easily embedded in the sites of others. Unlike similar websites developed after the disaster of Hurricane Katrina, this site uses a minimalist aesthetic of a largely white-space frame. Google admits, however, that the site could also be used by commercial spammers and other bad actors: "All data entered will be available to the public and viewable and usable by anyone. Google does not review or verify the accuracy of this data."

In the wake of the disaster many turned to the NOAA Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, which is laden with graphic content and maps, tabs, and risk diagrams.