Scientists have developed a new system that transforms Android smartphones into real -time earthquake detectors, potentially provides a faster way to warn people before the big collision.
Built by researchers in Google, the US Geological Survey (USGS) among others, the system uses millions of telephones to identify the first earthquake vibration signals.
When a cluster of devices record the same ground movement, the system flags it and sends warnings to others in the surrounding areas.
Study, published in ScienceFound the network that was diagnosed with more than 300 earthquakes a month. In areas where the warnings were sent, 85 percent of those who later felt that the earthquake said they had warned. Of these, 36 % received 28 % per length and 23 % after the vibration.
While this system does not replace traditional seismic sensors, it can provide a scalable and low -cost basic warning tool for areas without dense scientific networks. The authors said this is especially promising for developing countries where smartphones are common, but seismicists are rare.
In a statement, Google said the system could give people “a few seconds alert before shaking”.
“This second can be enough time to get out of the ladder, get away from dangerous objects and cover.”
Alerts move to the detection of P -waves, which are more destructive before S -earthquake. If enough phones detect the P waves, the system will send warnings to users who may be a few seconds away from the vibration. This second can be sufficient to wear, stop surgery or pause critical infrastructure.
The Android earthquake warning system, which began operating in 2020, is now operating in several countries, including the United States, Japan, Greece, Türkiye and Indonesia. This device is built directly on the Android operating system and does not require users to load a separate application.
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While the accuracy is not as high as scientific sensors, the researchers found that smartphone warnings in urban areas work well with high -density and reliable data connections. In rural areas, the cover is more scattered and slower.
The study is based on previous earthquake initiatives such as the Myshake program but uses native embedded millions of devices.
The authors wrote, “We believe that crowded systems are increasingly important.” “By combining traditional sensors with personal devices data, premature and more comprehensive warning systems can be created.”
