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Google turning smartphones into earthquake detectors
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 12, 2020 (AFP) – Google added an earthquake alert
system in California on Tuesday, saying it is working on letting Android-
powered smartphones double as tremor detectors.
Android phones will receive warnings triggered by a “ShakeAlert” earthquake
early-warning system implemented on the West Coast by the US Geological
Survey and partners.
ShakeAlert uses signals from hundreds of seismometers across the state to
trigger warning messages that “an earthquake has begun and shaking is
imminent,” according to the system’s website.
“We saw an opportunity to use Android to provide people with timely,
helpful earthquake information when they search, as well as a few seconds
warning to get themselves and their loved ones to safety if needed,”
principal software engineer Marc Stogaitis said in a blog post.
People anywhere with smartphones powered by Google’s Android operating
software were also invited to let handsets be part of a crowd-sourced network
for detecting earthquakes.
Smartphones are typically equipped with tiny accelerometers that sense
movement and can catch shaking caused by earthquakes, according to Stogaitis.
“This means your Android phone can be a mini seismometer, joining millions
of other Android phones out there to form the world’s largest earthquake
detection network,” Stogaitis said.
Android phones that detect what might be earthquake activity can
automatically send a signal to a data center, where computers quickly
interpret motion and location data in aggregate to determine whether a quake
is happening, according to Google.
“We’re essentially racing the speed of light — which is roughly the speed
at which signals from a phone travel — against the speed of an earthquake,”
Stogaitis said.
“And lucky for us, the speed of light is much faster!”
Earthquake alerts are starting in California because the state has an
extensive seismometer network in place. The alerts are expected to spread to
other locations during the coming year as the phone-based detection network
is established.
Fault-lines in the earth under California make it prime earthquake
territory, and residents here are routinely warned of the inevitability of
the next “big one.”
Meanwhile, a shallow 5.1-magnitude earthquake hit North Carolina on Sunday,
shaking buildings in the biggest tremor in the area for more than 100 years.
Major earthquakes are relatively rare on the US east coast.
BSS/AFP/MSY/0843 hrs