Google once again showed the world that a social networking site can be used for far more than socializing. On Saturday, Google quickly activated an online "people finder" tool to allow relatives and friends to find loved ones in Chile within hours of the country's 8.8-magnitude earthquake.

The "Person Finder: Chile Earthquake" from the California-based Internet giant is located at Chilepersonfinder.appspot.com and offers users the choice of using it in English or Spanish. It asks users "What is your situation?" and gives them the choice between "I'm looking for someone" and "I have information about someone."

Google also launched a "person finder" after last month's earthquake in Haiti. It currently contains some 58,700 records. Google has plenty of features that find where people live on Google Maps and pinpoint locations with Google Earth. But it was this emergency tool, activated this weekend for the second time, that will provide life-saving information in an emergency situation.

It's also the kind of tool that may have a practical application for private sector IT executives. Could the Google locater be used to communicate more rapidly to a customer in the event of a sudden product recall or the need to rapidly find customers for a product update? Could it be used to keep track of products being shipped and consumer complaints?

Whatever the answer, the practical side of a Google locator could be adopted by IT execs keeping up with the market.

For more on Google's locator:
- see this Vancouver Sun article

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