Google turns smart phones into earthquake detectors

Google added an earthquake alert system in California on Tuesday, saying it was working to allow Android smartphones to double its earthquake detection devices.

© Lionel BONAVENTURE Google’s new “ShakeAlert” system, created in collaboration with the US Geological Survey, uses signals from hundreds of seismographs across California to trigger warnings sent to people’s Android phones

Android phones will receive warnings triggered by the “ShakeAlert” earthquake early warning system implemented on the West Coast by the USGS and its partners.

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ShakeAlert is using signals from hundreds of seismometers across the state to issue warning messages that “an earthquake has started and that shaking is imminent,” according to the system’s website.

“We’ve seen an opportunity to use Android to provide people with useful, timely information about the earthquake when searching, as well as a warning for a few seconds to get themselves and their loved ones to safety if needed,” said lead software engineer Mark Stugetes in a blog post.

People anywhere were invited with smartphones powered by Google’s Android operating software to allow mobile phones to be part of the seismic crowd-sourcing network.

Smartphones are usually equipped with small accelerometers that sense movement and can pick up vibration caused by earthquakes, according to Stogetes.

“This means that your Android phone can be a small seismometer, as it joins the millions of other Android phones out there to form the largest earthquake detection network in the world,” said Stogaitis.

Android phones that detect what may be seismic activity can automatically send a signal to the data center, with computers interpreting at the speed of movement and overall location data to determine if an earthquake is occurring, according to Google.

“Basically, we are racing the speed of light – which is roughly the speed at which signals from a phone travel – versus the speed of an earthquake,” Stugaitis said.

“Fortunately for us, the speed of light is much faster!”

Earthquake alerts began in California because the state has an extensive network of seismometers in place. Alerts are expected to spread to other locations over the next year as the phone-based detection network is established.

Faultlines in the ground below California make it a prime earthquake zone, and residents are routinely warned of the inevitability of the next “major earthquake”.

Meanwhile, a 5.1-magnitude earthquake struck North Carolina on Sunday, shaking buildings in the region’s largest earthquake in more than 100 years.

Major earthquakes are relatively rare on the eastern coast of the United States.

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