Earthquake Alert: Google Says Android Phones "Acted As Seismometers," Warned Users Seconds Before It Struck

Earthquake Alert: Google said Wednesday that several Android smartphone users were warned before a moderate earthquake hit California. This was possible because Android devices could detect earthquakes built in 2020. Dave Burke, Google's Vice President of Engineering for Android, said that the earthquake detection feature was tested during a 5.1 quake near San Jose, California, and a lot of Android smartphones picked up on it before it hit.

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He said that Google's ability to detect earthquakes turns Android phones into seismometers. "The SF Bay Area had an earthquake Yesterday. Yellow/red means that Android phones that are being shaken are being used as seismometers. Circles are a rough estimate of P and S waves. Before the waves hit, alerts about earthquakes were sent instantly to phones in the area "Burke posted a tweet and a picture of Android phones lighting up to warn people about the earthquake.

The US developed the “MyShake” App for such Alert

Many people with Android phones said on social media that their phones notify them about earthquakes five to ten seconds before they felt the shock waves. Even though the warning came just a few seconds before the shaking started.

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Google released earthquake detection and early warnings for Android phones in August 2020. Google worked with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) to send earthquake alerts directly to Android devices in California. These alerts were powered by the ShakeAlert app.

Google CEO Sunder Pichai tweeted On Earthquake Alert

The signals from more than 700 seismometers installed by USGS, Cal OES, the University of California Berkeley, and the California Institute of Technology are used by the ShakeAlert system, which was made by some of the best seismologists in the world.

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