As Japan grappled with the most fearsome natural disaster in its history, the social networks Twitter and Facebook stepped into the gap when other forms of communication broke down. With hundreds known to be dead and thousands more missing the social networks - together with Skype - proved to be the vital link that kept families in touch in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami. Google also had a big role to play.
There was massive damage to buildings and roads, electrical blackouts, landlines were down and cellphones worked only intermittently. So, countless people in Japan and around the world took to Twitter and Facebook - as did the emergency services.
The word "earthquake" reached 19,360 tweets per hour when the earthquake first struck, and peaked at 35,430 Twitter posts an hour as people started waking up in the U.S. By late March 11, a total of 246,075 Twitter posts using the term "earthquake" had been posted.
Google published tools and information on its Google Crisis Response page, as it did in Haiti. With the Red Cross unable to accept further requests to locate family or friends in Japan, Google set up its People Finder Page, where anyone could type in the name of the person they were looking for.
One technology analyst said ,"Social communications, like Twitter, and social networking sites, like Facebook, are at their best in this sort of dire emergency.Today they have been there are for almost everybody to keep communications going."
At most times throughout the day, nine of Twitter's top 10 Trending Tropics -- such as #prayforjapan, #tsunami and #japan -- were directly related to the earthquake and tsunami.
Relief organisations used Twitter to post information about everything from emergency phone lines for non-Japanese speakers to lists of shelters for those left homeless.
On Facebook, people posted thoughts and prayers for the people of Japan, but used their updates to tell friends and family where they are and how they were doing. Facebook Pages like Japan Earthquake also appeared, grabbing nearly 3,000 followers in about 12 hours.
Brad Shimmin, an analyst with Current Analysis, said, "The No. 1 trending topic on Twitter right now concerns the 90999 text message number for Red Cross relief.
"From what I've seen today, social networks have brought out the best in people, encouraging them not only to take action but also supporting them in those efforts to bring relief to the victims of this catastrophe," he said.
"Many modern technologies isolate us from our fellow beings, but social networking tools have shown their ability to unify us as human beings, and to bring out the best in our natures."
In Tokyo, with residents unable to send text messages to friends and loved ones Twitter, Facebook, and Japanese social-media site Mixi filled the communication gap.
People walked miles to get home as subway services were suspended. "The streets were so full of people walking, it was like being in a morning rush-hour commuter train," said Toshie Niida, who works at a cable broadcaster in central
Tokyo, in a Facebook chat. "It took me more than an hour to walk home."
Brian Chapman, a journalist living in Tokyo said, "Facebook and Skype are proving to be the best ways to keep in touch. "
Gregory Starr, a Tokyo-based editor, commented on Facebook: "I've given up trying to get anywhere close to home. The convenience stores have been stripped bare of all food, but luckily there were a few cans of beer."
Christopher Johnson, a reporter who lives in Tokyo's Setagaya-ku, said on Facebook: "I ran out of the shower, grabbed a towel and ran outside, watched our old Japanese house shake side to side for what seemed like more than a minute."
"It seems as bad as the Kobe earthquake in 1995. The problem now is fires and the extreme cold in the north, with people afraid to sleep indoors. And what about all those seniors living in coastal fishing villages?"
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