Google setting up SOS alerts: important information during a crisis, straight in your Maps app

The concept of adding region-based, crisis assistance features in apps is young, but certainly not new. We've got Facebook's timed alerts and the “I am safe” global notification, which allows you to instantly let everyone know you are OK if you happen to be in an area affected by some sort of crisis.

Now, Google is expanding its portfolio of features like the Google Crisis Map with a brand-new SOS Alerts. The latter is meant for smartphones and works in both Google Search and Google Maps.

When you perform a simple search about a location, where some sort of disaster has struck, you ...