Are you or a loved one trying to locate someone in quake-struck Haiti? Google has an app for that.

Using technologies written after Hurricane Katrina, Google has created a Web application that allows users to search and add to a vast missing persons database. The code may also be embedded into Web sites.

“One of the most personally gratifying things to come out of this effort is the fact that Google is using PeopleFinder Interchange Format (PFIF) to process the missing persons report,” Andy Carvin at National Public Radio. “PFIF was created in the days and weeks following Hurricane Katrina, during which time many websites served as ad hoc collections of missing persons information, often published by family and friends in a narrative format. While this format made for powerful, heartbreaking reading, it meant there was no easy way to organize all of this data into a single database. So a group of volunteers created PFIF as a way of structuring this data, then mobilized literally thousands of other volunteers to convert these collections of missing persons information into PFIF.”

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To search for a missing person in Haiti, click below.

To donate directly to Haiti relief efforts, please visit The American Red Cross or Oxfam America.