Yahoo! reveals top searches related to the Japan earthquake
As Japan grapples from the aftermath of one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded, people all over the world resorted to prayers while seeking more information on the disaster. In an attempt to find out the top concerns of online users during this recent earthquake catastrophe, Yahoo! has meticulously aggregated searches from all over APAC (includes Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, India and Southeast Asia) to reveal detailed information on the most searched keywords - 'Earthquake' and 'Tsunami'.
Yahoo! Search Trends witnessed a sharp spike in a short period of time relating to the news and information on the Japan earthquake and tsunami. In India, 'earthquake' and 'tsunami' related search queries spiked 15000%. In Taiwan, 'earthquake' and 'tsunami' related search queries increased 80,000% in the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake. In Hong Kong, the search volume for keyword 'earthquake' spiked 4,000% and 'tsunami' 10,600% and both have remained the most searched keywords since then. Similarly, Korea witnessed a spike of 23,520% on the term 'earthquake' and 40,025% for 'tsunami'. All of this reveals the deep impact the earthquake has rendered in the minds and hearts of people across APAC.
In India, users kept themselves abreast with real time updates from live news feeds on the special coverage page created for the Japan Earthquake on Yahoo! News India. Indian users also searched for videos and photographs related to the aftermath. Specific keywords like 'Japan earthquake', 'Japan tsunami', 'earthquake 2011' and 'Japanese tsunami 2011' were searched on the network. In Singapore and Malaysia, the keyword 'Japan tsunami' had an increase of 30,450% and 9,100% respectively just within a day after the tsunami struck. Apart from specific keywords, APAC users looked out for graphical imagery of the disaster with searches on maps, videos and images of the disaster observing a significant spike.
With the news of the impact of the massive earthquake on the nuclear reactor and the fear of a nuclear meltdown, inquiries pertaining to nuclear energy, radiation, meltdown and its effects rose in significant numbers. Yahoo! Search Trends findings also revealed that this unfortunate tragedy has reminded users of Ukraine's Chernobyl Nuclear disaster in 1986. Searches on Chernobyl disaster, explosion, Chernobyl radioactive clouds was observed. Evidence of people being reminiscent of the past disasters also reflected in the Philippine searches for 'ring of fire' and 'fault line map', further illustrating the growing concern of the Filipinos and a stark reminder of their country's vulnerability to quakes.
The search count on Yahoo! with regards to predictions and prophecies on the Japanese disaster, the 'Nikkei" and ‘Tokyo stock exchange', movies with disaster scenes like "Sinking of Japan", "2012" and "The Day after Tomorrow" and rumoured death of Japanese personalities such as creator of Pokemon, Hello Kitty, actress Maria Ozawa, has been on the rise since the earthquake struck Japan.
For More Details See
www.varindia.com