It was 11:56 AM on Sunday, April 25th, when Nepal witnessed one of its darkest days when a massive 7.8 magnitude of earthquake hit the Himalayan nation. So far over 7,903 people have died with over 15,935 people being injured. The death toll is likely to rise as many remote villages are still believed to be trapped under the rubble. Nepal has been getting support from all around the world during these crucial days and the social media giant Facebook also has been a great helping hand for the Nepalese people.

After launching its Safety Check update for people who suffered in the earthquake, Facebook had rolled out the Donate button for relief work in Nepal. In one week, around 754,000 people from more than 175 countries contributed over $17.4 million. An amount of $2 million has been aditionally donated by Facebook. The funds will be used for the medical treatment of the injured people through International Medical Corps, which is a global organization. According to Facebook, “International Medical Corps’ emergency response teams are operating mobile medical units to deliver critically needed medical care and medicines to the regions hardest-hit by the earthquake.” The team is giving out “hygiene kits, water purification tablets and other supplies to keep families healthy.”

Facebook had also launched the ‘Safety Check’ feature which tracks people (based on profile information or any other check-in updates) in an area that has been struck by natural disasters. Users in the area will be prompted by Facebook to update their status as safe and should do so to let their friends knows of the same.

Mark Zuckerberg, the Co-Founder of Facebook, posted a statement on Friday on his page to inform about the donation. He wrote:

“I want to thank everyone in our community for coming together to support those affected by the Nepal earthquake.

More than 750,000 people from around the world gave over $15 million to the International Medical Corps relief efforts, and Facebook donated an additional $2 million on top of that to local recovery efforts.

Here’s a short video explaining how your donations are helping survivors. There’s a lot more that needs to be done to help Nepal rebuild, but our community is already making a big difference.

Thank you for coming together to give people a lifeline when they need it most.”

See Also: Nepal Earthquake: Bands From Nepal & India to Play in Delhi to Fundraise