Google is turning Android Phones into seismometers

guest · Aug 11, 2020

Google is turning Android Phones into seismometers
August 11, 2020
https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/11/google-is-turning-android-phones-into-seismometers/

Google is launching a handful of new Android features today that don’t really have a lot in common but that are all interesting in their own right.

But the highlight of today’s release is surely Google’s new worldwide earthquake detection system and the new earthquake alerting feature it is launching for California. With this, Google is essentially turning your Android phone into a seismometer to create what the company says is “the world’s largest earthquake detection network.”
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The company argues that smartphone accelerometers are sensitive enough to measure the P-waves that are the first waves to arrive after an earthquake. Whenever the phone thinks it has detected an earthquake, it will send that info to a central server which then determines whether this was really an earthquake.

For now, Google will only use this data to show information when somebody then searches for ‘earthquake’ or a similar keyword. Over time, though, it expects to be able to send out alerts based on these phone-based systems.
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In California, the company is already going a step further, though. [...] Google is using the ShakeAlert network — which itself uses data from 700 seismometers from across the state — to provide earthquake alerts.
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Google: Earthquake detection and early alerts, now on your Android phone

You might be wondering, “what’s next?” We’re starting with earthquake alerts in California since there’s already a great seismometer-based system in place. Over the coming year, you can expect to see the earthquake alerts coming to more states and countries using Android’s phone-based earthquake detection.
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guest · Sep 20, 2020

Google shares what the Android Earthquake Alerts System detected in Los Angeles last night
September 19, 2020
https://9to5google.com/2020/09/19/android-earthquake-los-angeles/

The Android Earthquake Alerts System turns phones running the mobile operating system into mini seismometers. Following last night’s earthquake in Los Angeles, Google shared an interesting visualization of what Android phones detected.

Android engineering VP Dave Burke tweeted a video showing Los Angeles and the surrounding area moments after the earthquake. P-waves (shown as yellow dots) appear first and are followed by red ones for the S-wave. The concentric circles are the “expected locations of the P and S waves.” As the latter one passes, you see the yellow markers turn red.
Google is not yet using this system to send alerts.
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Over the coming year, Google will actually send notifications and is targeting this system for areas that do not have a ground system of seismometers already in place.

Meanwhile, in addition to this phone-based network, Google in August integrated the early warning ShakeAlert system from California and the United States Geological Survey. It successfully fired last night and started with an “Earthquake nearby” notification that tells you to “expect shaking” and how far away the tremor was, as well as the estimated magnitude.
Tapping opens a card-based feed of useful information like safety tips and a map with your location from the epicenter.
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guest · Apr 28, 2021

Google Expands Android’s Earthquake Detection Inside and Outside US
April 28, 2021
https://www.droid-life.com/2021/04/...s-earthquake-detection-inside-and-outside-us/

The Android Earthquake Alerts System that Google launched last year as a warning system to let people know that an earthquake is happening in their location, is expanding both inside and outside the US.

Google announced today that Greece and New Zealand are getting access to the Android Earthquake Alert System, which will use detection and alerts capabilities. Once live in those two countries, Google will use accelerometers inside phones to detect seismic waves before sending alerts near the location of a possible quake.
Additionally, Google said that alerting (powered by ShakeAlert) will expand to Washington state in May after previously launching in Oregon and California.
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Google: Introducing Android Earthquake Alerts outside the U.S.

Today we’re announcing an expansion of the Android Earthquake Alerts System that uses both the detection and alerts capabilities, bringing these alerts to Android users in countries that don’t have early warning alert systems. We’re introducing the Android Earthquake Alerts System in Greece and New Zealand, where Android users will receive automatic early warning alerts when there is an earthquake in their area. Users who do not wish to receive these alerts can turn this off in device settings.
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guest · Jul 25, 2021

Android’s earthquake warning system proved effective in the Philippines yesterday
July 24, 2021
https://9to5google.com/2021/07/24/android-earthquake-warning-philippines/

Last month, Google rolled out the Android Earthquake Alerts System to seven more countries ahead of a global launch over the next year. The Philippines is one of those places with earthquake warnings enabled, and Android users yesterday benefited from such a heads-up.

According to the US Geological Survey, a magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck Tingloy, Philippines yesterday in the early morning hours. Reuters reported how shaking “lasted nearly a minute” and awoke some.
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Google built the system to create the “world’s largest earthquake detection network” using the technology and sensors that are already widely out there. It comes as establishing a traditional network of ground seismometers (like in California and the US West Coast) is not always feasible. If such systems are in place, Android does show those government-provided warnings.
It will become available globally in places with wide availability of Android devices running Google Play services over the coming year. The company is starting in countries with high earthquake risk.
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EASTER · Jul 25, 2021

I already have one way better. Its accurate in real time and draw sources of tremors, depth and potential origins between nature or fracking drill patforms. But the more the merrier for public awareness info on those.

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