Google executive Dan Fredinburg among those killed at Mount Everest base camp following huge earthquake

Early Saturday morning, the small nation of Nepal was at the center of the worst earthquake in its history, registering 7.8 on the Richter scale. Since the initial shake-up, as least one significant aftershock has hit the region, measuring a magnitude of 6.7.

Over one thousand people have been reported killed in a quake that impacted the city of Kathmandu to the slopes of Mount Everest and nearby basecamps.

It was at one of these basecamps where a long-time member of Google’s privacy team and executive, Dan Fredinburg died after succumbing to a head injury suffered during an avalanche that resulted from the quake. Three other Googlers were with Fredinburg at the time, but were not injured.

Fredinburg was an active outdoor enthusiast and experienced mountain climber. He led several expeditions for Google gathering images for Google Maps, including famous peaks like Mount Everest, Mount Kilimanjaro, and Mount Elbrus. One day prior to the earthquake, Fredinburg was training-up at base camp, and shared a neat picture on his Instagram account as only an experienced climber could. In addition to the official word from Google, Dan's sister, Megan, also shared the news of his passing, "All our love and thanks to those who shared this life with our favorite hilarious strong willed man."

The head of Google’s privacy team, Lawrence You, announced that Google.org is committing $1 million to the response, and will be setting up a gift matching effort in the coming days.


sources: CNN, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and +Lawrence You