US EditionHow Android Phones Became an Earthquake Warning System
GLOBAL, JUL 17 – Google's Android Earthquake Alerts system has detected over 11,000 quakes and sent 790 million alerts worldwide, providing early warnings to users in 98 countries since 2021.
- Real-Time seismic detection emerges as the worldwide Android smartphone-based earthquake detection and early warning system now delivers alerts as effective as traditional seismic networks, according to the Science study published July 17.
- Since launching in 2020, the Android Earthquake Alerts system expanded to 2.3 billion users, compared with 300 million served by other sources.
- In performance tests, Google’s new study found Android phones issued alerts for 1,279 seismic events by March 2024, recording just three false alerts and firing the first warning eight seconds after Turkey’s magnitude-6.2 quake began.
- A Google user survey found more than one third of participants received alerts before feeling shaking, most called them very helpful and warnings provide 10 to 60 seconds before destructive S-waves arrive.
- Researchers say the system could deliver rapid post-earthquake information to emergency responders, helping them quickly assess areas most in need.
46 Articles
46 Articles
We already have the first technical analysis of the global network of motion sensors on Android phones to detect earthquakes with precision similar to traditional seismometers.
Google turns Android phones into earthquake detectors, records 11,000 tremors on crowdsourcing
The Android Earthquake Alerts system prioritises scale over precision, leveraging the widespread use of Android smartphones, which collect motion data by default unless opted out
Google harnesses Android to track earthquakes
Google is tapping billions of Android smartphones to help detect earthquakes and warn people nearby. The tech giant announced in 2020 that it was building a crowdsourced tremor detector using the accelerometers in Android phones. Now, a new analysis shows that the system recorded 11,000 quakes about as well as standard seismometers. Google said its system alerted millions of users across 98 countries, although it isn’t foolproof: The tool undere…
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