Your Android phone can notify you of an earthquake seconds before it happens. Here's how - ZDNet

Image: Google

If you unrecorded successful an country prone to earthquakes, you're astir apt utilized to feeling the world shingle without warning. But successful caller years, exertion has allowed governments and autarkic companies to make earthquake informing systems.

These systems, similar Google's Android Earthquake Alerts System, can't foresee an earthquake, arsenic that exertion doesn't beryllium yet. But it tin springiness radical a seconds-long informing to instrumentality enactment to prepare. 

On October 25, a 5.1-magnitude earthquake occurred successful the San Francisco Bay Area. Twitter users thanked Google for the warning, saying they received a notification of the oncoming earthquake conscionable a fewer seconds earlier they could consciousness the crushed shaking.

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Google's earthquake detection is disposable worldwide but is much precocious successful California, Oregon and Washington, wherever much seismometer systems tin pass with Google's servers. 

Google's earthquake alert uses information from Android phones and the phones' accelerometers, which are tiny sensors that, erstwhile utilized together, tin observe an earthquake happening close earlier it hits. The accelerometers successful phones are however Android phones tin notify radical successful areas without seismometer systems of an earthquake.

Those sensors nonstop signals to Google's earthquake detection server, on with a unsmooth calculation of the earthquake's location, and past Android users are notified of gound-shaking activity.

Technology is perpetually evolving to assistance support america safe, similar Google's earthquake detection strategy and Apple's clang detection. iPhone users tin besides get earthquake alerts -- via iPhone Settings successful immoderate locations, oregon from a third-party app. This week's quake drew comparisons betwixt Android and iPhone alerts.

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David Kleidermacher, a subordinate of Google's information team, hints that Google subscribes to the "power of open," and different companies don't. He mentioned that Apple didn't notify an iPhone idiosyncratic successful his bureau of an earthquake until aft it happened. 

Google says seismometer systems are costly to physique and use, truthful the solution is to usage Android phones arsenic mini seismometers. But arsenic Robert de Groot, a subordinate of the ShakeAlert operations team, told Wired, for phones to enactment arsenic earthquake detectors, radical person to beryllium adjacent to the earthquake.

As Google refines the technology, they anticipation to notify radical of an earthquake with much seconds betwixt the notification and an progressive earthquake. The exertion is inactive caller and underdeveloped, truthful it could beryllium a portion earlier radical person adjacent a infinitesimal to instrumentality cover.