• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, March 11, 2011

Google is used to helping people surf the Web, but this morning the search giant turned a portion of its home page over to warn people in the Pacific Rim of some life-threatening surf.

Shortly after the devastating earthquake struck Japan, Google posted the following warning below its popular search bar on its home page: "Tsunami Alert for New Zealand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Hawaii, and others. Waves expected over the next few hours, caused by 8.9 earthquake in Japan."