If you’re near a major crisis and you search for related words or phrases on Google, you may see a banner indicating that there’s an ongoing crisis, followed by emergency information and resources such as useful translations or phone numbers. If you’ve installed the latest version of the Google app (Android and iOS) and your location is turned on, you may also receive a notification on your mobile device’s home screen. Tap the notification to see the full alert on Google Search.
If you’re outside the crisis area, you won’t get a notification, but you can still find SOS Alerts by searching for information about the event. The information you get may be different from what people closer to the crisis area see. For example, instead of seeing emergency phone numbers, you may see a link to make a donation for that crisis.
If you’re using Google Maps, you may also see SOS Alerts right on the map if any alerts are active in the area you’re viewing. Tap on the icon to get more information about the crisis, such as helpful phone numbers and websites.