Facebook has added a new feature that will make it easier for people to check that friends are safe when caught up in natural disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis.

Safety Check will work on the social network’s mobile and desktop versions, including its Android and iOS apps.

When someone’s within range of an unfolding natural disaster, they’ll get a notification from Facebook prompting them to tap a button to signify that they’re safe, or to say they’re not in the area.

Selecting “I’m Safe” will post an update to that effect on Facebook for friends to see – presumably these will get a high weighting in the algorithm used to decide which stories are displayed in news feeds – with the option to also receive notifications when friends mark themselves as safe during a disaster.

“We’ll determine your location by looking at the city you have listed in your profile, your last location if you’ve opted in to the Nearby Friends product, and the city where you are using the internet,” explained Facebook’s Naimo Gleit, Sharon Zeng and Peter Cottle in a blog post.

They add that the feature was inspired by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in 2011, with Facebook’s Japanese engineers subsequently developing a tool – the Disaster Message Board – to help people make contact during and after disasters.

“Each time, we see people, relief organisations and first responders turn to Facebook in the aftermath of a major natural disaster,” explained the blog post.

“These events have taught us a lot about how people use Facebook during disasters and we were personally inspired to continue work on the Disaster Message Board to incorporate what we’ve learned. This project soon became Safety Check.”

While the feature appears to be focused on natural disasters, it could also be used for other kinds of crises: terrorist attacks, for example.

• Social media’s crucial role in disaster relief efforts

