Smartphones may soon provide earthquake warnings

[Thomas the Tank Engine]

 

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When it comes to an earthquake, just a few seconds’ warning could make the difference between life and death. But many earthquake-prone countries lack the seismic networks that would give their citizens the lead time to find cover or shut down critical utilities. Now, a group of enterprising engineers is looking at a substitute network: smartphones. Using smartphones’ built-in accelerometers, researchers have invented an app — released today — that they say can detect strong earthquakes seconds before the damaging seismic waves arrive.  MyShake, as the app is called, could become the basis for an earthquake warning system for the world’s most vulnerable regions.

 

Trying to harness the world’s 1 billion smartphones for earthquake warning isn’t new, says John Vidale, a seismologist at the University of Washington, Seattle, who was not involved in the study. “We all know the approach could work if the phones are properly equipped,” he says. “But [this study has] done a number of things to solidify arguments that it’s practical. [They’re] showing that it could work now, if people are willing to run the software.”

 

Previous efforts have struggled to tease out an earthquake’s shaking from everyday jostles and bumps. Most use sensors already built into cellphones, particularly accelerometers, three-axis motion sensors that keep track of orientation, or GPS, which gives the phone’s absolute position at any time. Last year, a separate team of scientists showed that smartphone GPS systems — although not as precise as sensitive scientific instruments — are still accurate enough to positively detect an earthquake of at least magnitude 7. But as anyone who has used a phone’s map function knows, GPS is a constant drain on battery power, making it somewhat impractical for a warning system that requires constant vigilance.

 

The smartphone’s ability to identify an earthquake in progress is just one part of the challenge. Another part is on the back end: Devising an algorithm to take data from tens of thousands of smartphones, determine a magnitude and epicenter for the quake, and then issue a timely warning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/02/smartphones-may-soon-provide-earthquake-warnings

Edited February 12, 2016 by Thomas the Tank Engine