Many of the deadliest disasters in history have been earthquakes, including the 2005 tragedy in Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province, Kashmir, and the 2010 quake in Haiti. Since earthquakes can’t be predicted, they seem to come out of nowhere. Fortunately, Android is taking steps to detect earthquakes at the earliest signs using technology that’s already built into your phone.
Google recently published a report in Science explaining how its Android Earthquake Alert (AEA) system works. It partners with the earthquake-detecting system ShakeAlert in California, Washington, and Oregon. In these states, ShakeAlert is equipped with 1675 seismic sensors that monitor the Earth’s vibrations.
The sensors enable the system to detect when an earthquake is occurring and then determine its location and magnitude. ShakeAlert will then send the information to the AEA, which will automatically notify Android devices.
Outside the West Coast, things are done differently. Smartphones contain tiny accelerometers that sense vibrations, indicating that an earthquake might be occurring. When a device thinks an earthquake is happening, Google’s earthquake detection server receives a signal and an estimate of where the shaking took place. The server then uses information from various Android phones to determine if an earthquake is going on.
An Android user can receive two types of earthquake notifications: the Be Aware Alert or the Take Action Alert. The former is mainly for weaker earthquakes with light shaking. People will receive this notification if they’re near an earthquake with a shaking level of 3 or 4 on the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale (MMI) and a magnitude of 4.5 or greater. This alert will also adhere to sound limitations, like notification settings, volume changes, and Do Not Disturb settings.
On the other hand, the Take Action Alert ignores all notification adjustments, playing a loud sound and illuminating the screen. It’s specifically designed to draw attention before violent shaking occurs, giving people time to protect themselves. This alert is reserved for earthquakes with 5-plus shaking on the MMI scale and magnitudes of 4.5 or greater. When clicked, both alerts will provide earthquake safety tips to follow after an earthquake.
According to Ars Technica, the AEA launched in 2020 and has been improving since. Additionally, the system’s alerts can now reach 2.5 billion people in 98 countries.
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