Google: A Curve of Mourning and Solidarity

The Wenchuan earthquake - the greatest disaster to hit the Chinese landscape in thirty years, plunged all of China into great shock and incomparable grief. Just a few days ago, "earthquake" seemed like a word that didn't concern any of us, and "Wenchuan" was nothing more than an obscure location in a thick atlas, unknown to most. But today, everything has changed. When we routinely organized and analyzed Google search engine traffic data, a curve unlike any we'd ever seen appeared before us. When we realized what had happened, our eyes moistened.