The Mountain View firm has just announced on its blog its plan to transform all Android terminals into earthquake detectors. A project that will be developed over the next few months and which is now being implemented in California, an American state regularly affected by earthquakes.
The Mountain View firm has partnered with the USGS (United States Geological Survey) and Cal OES (California Governor's Office of Emergency Services) to send earthquake alerts to Californians through the ShakeAlert app.
This app has been around for some time now and uses more than 700 seismometers located across California to detect and prevent earthquakes before they happen. "A few seconds of warning can make a difference in giving you time to bend down, cover yourself, and hold yourself back before the shock hits," Google says.
Mini-seismometers around the world
However, this type of functionality - which relies on a large number of seismometers - is not feasible on a global scale, which is why Google wants to use Android smartphones instead.
“Earthquakes happen daily around the world, with hundreds of millions of people living in areas prone to earthquakes. Early warning can help people prepare for a shake, but the public infrastructure to detect and alert everyone to an earthquake is expensive to build and deploy, ”says Google.
To remedy this, the Mountain View firm wants to offer Android smartphone owners to integrate the earthquake warning system by turning their phone into a mini-seismometer. Smartphones have components - tiny accelerometers - that can serve as mini-seismometers. They are therefore able to detect signals indicating that an earthquake is about to occur.
The system is in place in California
In case the phone detects early signals of earthquakes, the device will send an alert and its approximate location to Google's servers. By crossing data from several phones, the firm will be able to verify whether the tremor has indeed taken place, as well as its power. If you are in doubt, you can also do a Google search to find out whether such a natural phenomenon has occurred near where you are.
Google's earthquake alert feature is now available to residents of California. It should be rolled out to the rest of the world in the coming months. Period during which Google should logically specify how users can integrate the system.
In the meantime, Google offers information on the natural phenomenon, as well as on the operation of its alert system. Just do a search for “earthquake” or “earthquake near me” on Chrome.
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