Google has turned Android phones into Earthquake detectors
Taking technology advancement one step further, the powerhouse Google has added an earthquake alert system in California on Tuesday. This will turn Android smartphones as a tremor detector, which will eventually aid people by giving an alert or warning minutes before the mishappening nearby.
This isn’t something Google has tried on an amateur level, countries like Japan, Mexico, and California are already using land-based sensors to generate warnings to save human lives and property damage caused by the tremor.
“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.
Earthquakes generally occur in regions where there are fault-lines in the earth. A sudden slip on a fault causes it. When the stress on the edge avoids friction, there is an earthquake that discharges energy in the form of waves that cause the shaking, which can be felt enormously.
California, where Google just launched the earthquake alert system, is more prone to this natural calamity. This is because California lies on the San Andreas Fault, which extends roughly to 800 miles through the US States.
The fault is further divided into three segments, brimmed with different degrees of earthquake risks. The southern segment that passes within about 35 miles of Los Angeles is the most compelling one.
70 major earthquakes have hit California since records began to register in 1812. The largest of them all hit the state in 1857 named Fort Tejon earthquake, which had an estimated magnitude of 7.9.
This clearly states California was in dire need of something which could alert the people and prevention could be taken to some extent.
How will the Earthquake Alert System work in Android smartphones
Google has targeted Android smartphones for this concept instead of creating any new gadget which is dedicated for earthquake detection. This was an obvious move because more than 2.5 billion devices globally (Both smartphones and tablets) run Android OS. The Android phones will receive warnings triggered by a “ShakeAlert” which is an earthquake early-warning system that was carried out on the West Coast by the US Geological Survey and partners.
The ShakeAlert uses signals from unnumbered seismometer across the region to prompt a warning message that quotes, “An earthquake has begun, and shaking is imminent.”
Talking about seismometers, it is a device that responds to ground motions which include, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tornados, and other related or non-related explosions. The seismometer works on the principle of generating graphs that were generated formerly on a paper, but now it is recorded and processed digitally.
“This Google program emerged from a week-long session 4–1/2 years ago which focused whether the accelerometers present in phones can detect, earthquakes, tornados, car crashes, etc.” quoted by software engineer Marc Stogaitis.
The accelerometers are different from seismometers. Accelerometers are heavy sensors that measure direction and force of motion. They are majorly used to actuate whether a user is holding a phone in portrait or landscape mode.
As of now, Google has launched this feature in its Android OS for the people in California; this is because the state has a pervasive seismometer network in place. However, once the phone-based detection network is well established, the ShakeAlert is expected to disperse to other locations as well at an overwhelming rate.
The system is not applicable to set its foot in China, where Google play services are already barred.
The move to turn Android smartphones into mini seismometer could be tricky. Still, Google is working in the right direction to achieve the same, and Mark Stogaitias is hopeful that shortly the Android smartphones will evolve as one of the world’s largest earthquake detection network.
Stogaitias said, “We’re essentially racing the speed of light — which is roughly the speed at which signals from phone travel — against the speed of an earthquake.”
What magnitude will this earthquake detector trigger?
The alerts must trigger a magnitude that is generally encountered during an earthquake. The Google earthquake detector will trigger a magnitude of 4.5 or higher. This would be a build-in function in Android smartphones, which means no app download is necessary.
UC Berkeley Seismology Laboratory launches an Android app named ‘MyShake’ last year, which issues earthquake early warning alerts in California. Apart from providing earthquake alerts, the application emphasized on maps and earthquake-related safety tips to the user. The app has drawn over 1 million downloads so far.
Conclusion:
Google has drawn the first blood in this sector. Providing an in-built feature for earthquake detection is a step in the right direction. Their premier competitors Apple haven’t commented on the same, but in the future are expected to come up with a similar application of their own.
It remains interesting to see how successful this application is going to be, especially in a region like California, which is prone to earthquakes and has surfaced this natural calamity over and over again in the past. If Google gets the desired response they are looking for, the feature will be dispersed in the remaining parts of the globe at a high rate and could many many lives.
