A magnitude 5.8 earthquake hit Puerto Rico just over 60 miles from San Juan this morning. Thankfully, damage and casualties appear to have been minimal, but that didn’t stop an impromptu community from popping up on the web within hours of the event.

A Facebook page called “Yo tambien senti el temblor del 16 de mayo a las 1:06am en Puerto Rico!” (“I felt the earthquake May 16 at 1:06 AM in Puerto Rico, too!”) was formed within an hour of the rumble, and more than 11,000 people have “Liked” it in the morning and afternoon since then.

The page doesn’t serve a practical purpose; it isn’t a hub of citizen journalism or a tool for relief workers. Rather, it’s a place where a community of Internet () users can connect and share anecdotes about the quake through wall posts and shared images, including one natural disaster-themed Kanye West “I’mma let you finish” parody.

Trouble in paradise?

When Facebook launched its Open Graph API and brought instant personalization to the web it probably didn’t expect users to revolt — but they are. In light of growing concerns around user privacy, Matthew Milan and Joseph Dee are attempting to mobilize a formal Facebook revolt with Quit Facebook Day.

The purpose of the site is to encourage those “sick of Facebook’s lack of respect for your data” to quit the social networking site. Users can “commit to quit” with their Twitter handle or name and join the others publicly pledging to do so in unison.

The delete-your-Facebook movement — scheduled for May 31 — has yet to attract too many pledges, but with anti-Facebook sentiment on the rise that could change in the near future. In fact, yesterday Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Land noticed that “how do i delete my facebook account” is now one of the top Google suggestions when typing “how do i …” in the search box.

Facebook is now an essential unifying force in many people’s social lives — it helps friends arrange events, wish each other “happy birthday,” solidify communities and social bonds, and share recent memories with images.

All of that has been always possible by other, less convenient means, but Facebook helps us do one thing that’s unique to our time: Get daily updates on the lives of friends all over the world, in different walks of life.

In a way, that’s what the service originally was. Its name and college origins conjure images of a yearbook, intended not to keep up on what’s new but to act as a record of past relationships, associations and accomplishments. Facebook hasn’t forgotten that, so it provides tools for reconnecting with friends from your past — past schools, past jobs and even past e-mail exchanges.

Here’s a list of ways to find long lost friends on Facebook.