Every day, Anicet Mbida makes us discover an innovation that could well change the way we consume.

This Tuesday, he is interested in an invention that could save lives in the event of an earthquake.

Thanks to a sensor system inspired by motion detectors, mobile phones can now serve as seismometers and give warning in the event of an earthquake.

The innovation of the day is a new way of detecting and preventing earthquakes.

We are now going to use our cell phones as seismometers.

You may know that in every mobile phone there is a motion detector.

This is how it manages to count your steps or know when to switch to landscape mode.

This sensor is so sensitive, that it is able to feel the seismic waves which propagate just before the arrival of the main shock.

By analyzing the vibrations of a single phone, we would have a lot of false alarms.

But as the detection has been integrated directly into the system of Android mobiles, this makes it possible to rely on the thousands of telephones present in the same area.

This creates a very dense network of seismographs with worldwide coverage.

So far, the system has only been tested in California in the United States.

It is starting to be deployed internationally.

This Monday, he gave his first alert in New Zealand for a small earthquake of magnitude 3.4.

What exactly happens when it detects an earthquake?

All phones in the area will receive an "Alert! Earthquake Imminent" message with its location and some advice.

You should know that an earthquake moves very quickly.

We therefore rely on the phones closest to the epicenter to warn all the others.

It is not a prediction system, but a warning system.

This leaves a few minutes, sometimes a few seconds to prepare. But that may be enough to take shelter under a table with loved ones. This will also help to remove doubts. A few days ago, near Soustons in the southwest, we thought it was an earthquake. While the vibrations were caused by a huge military operation.