Within minutes of the devastating earthquake, social media had reacted.
Soon, the hashtag #eqnz was trending worldwide, pushed there by a surge from New Zealanders alone.
The rest of the world began searching en masse for the words "New Zealand", in three different languages.
Those three searches sat in the top 10 trending topics worldwide until around 9am on Monday morning.
The earthquake led major news bulletins all over the world, from Australia to the United States.
The news also activated a Facebook emergency tool, which was developed in the wake of the 2011 tsunami in Japan.
"It is now 10am in New Zealand where the damage from a massive earthquake is coming into sharper focus," CNN reported.
Pakistan news reported their cricket team was safe in Nelson, while Australian networks rolled in half-hour updates.
Families frantically trying to contact each other used a Facebook tool that kicks in around the world during natural disasters.
Users detected in the area can mark themselves safe, sending a notification to friends and family.
For the thousands that used it, it would have been welcome peace of mind in the flood of photos that showed just how many New Zealanders were earthquake-affected.
Newshub.
