When disaster or tragedy strikes, people far away are touched and want to help – but really can’t do much. Often the first thing distant observers do is take to social media to send their thoughts, prayers, support and good wishes for survivors, rescue workers and others affected. And a lot of times, those online posts involve emoji – as well as hashtags in the poster’s own language, and other languages.

First created in the late 1990s, emoji became prominent worldwide in 2015 when the Oxford Dictionaries named the “face with tears of joy” emoji