FACEBOOK has had to apologise after it asked users who were far from the deadly explosion in Pakistan if they were safe.

The Safety Check function was designed to let people tell friends and family they are safe after a disaster and can be activated by the company after terrorism attacks or natural disasters.

It identifies users close to the event and sends them a notification "so people in the area can let their friends and loved ones know they're safe," Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post.

According to the ABC (read more at ABC) after the bombing in Lahore that killed at least 65 people, Facebook activated Safety Check only to have users around the world receive a notification in their language saying: "It looks like you're in the area affected by The Explosion."

Users shared screenshots of their notifications on Facebook and on rival social network Twitter.

The Wall Street Journal said it wasn't clear how many people received the mistaken notifications. Facebook, in a post on its site said: "Unfortunately, many people not affected by the crisis received a notification asking if they were okay. This kind of bug is counter to the product's intent. We worked quickly to resolve the issue and we apologize to anyone who mistakenly received the notification."

One confused Twitter user tweeted: Facebook is asking me if I'm in Pakistan and if I'm okay. How drunk did I get last night?