Facebook activates 'Safety Check' for Manipur quake

With a powerful earthquake measuring 6.7 on the Richter Scale rocking India's north-eastern region early Monday, Facebook has activated its safety check tool to help people in the area let friends and family know they are safe.

"A major earthquake just struck northeastern India and we have activated Safety Check to help people in the area let friends and family know they are safe," Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg wrote.

"Tremors were also felt in Bangladesh, Myanmar and Nepal. If you appear to be nearby, we will send you a notification to access Safety Check so you can share that you are safe and see that people you care about are safe as well," Zuckerberg posted on Facebook.

The quake occurred at 4.35 a.m. and had its epicentre in Manipur's Tamenglong district. Initial reports indicate that one young girl was killed and 30 people were injured.

"My thoughts are with everyone in the affected areas. May you and your loved ones stay safe and healthy," Zuckerberg said.

The safety check tool can be accessed at https://www.facebook.com/safetycheck/manipurearthquake-jan03-2016

Zukerberg's post has been liked so far by over 100,000 users and shared by nearly 8,000 users.

"Thanks a lot Mark Zukerberg for enabling safety check. I am in Bangladesh for yearly vacation. My hometown is Sylhet which is the closest part of Bangladesh near to Manipur, India," one of the users Aminul Haque Chowdhury wrote on the comment section.

There are more than 3,400 comments on the post.

Earlier, Facebook had activated the "Safety Check" feature for its users in Chennai to allow people to mark themselves as "safe" from the floods in the flood-hit city last year.

The feature, which debuted in October 2014, allows Facebook to ask users whether they are safe if located near a natural disaster.

A click or tap on the "I'm Safe" button lets friends and loved ones know straight away.

Users can also check to see whether their friends are safe too.

Facebook's Safety Check feature has now been deployed on several occasions including the terrorist attacks in Paris.