In 2020, Google introduced the Android Earthquake Alert (AEA) system for people with smartphones living in earthquake-prone regions. Compared to expensive earthquake early warning systems, scientists say Google’s feature is very accurate and cost-effective, as it does not require a dedicated seismic station.
Available on Android devices in 98 countries, Google’s earthquake alert system has now expanded to cover more than 2.5 billion people in just three years. Since the Android Earthquake Alert system works by gathering data from millions of Android devices, one might wonder if it actually works. As it turns out, crowdfunding data is a really good idea.
According to a recent study published in the journal Science, Google’s Android Earthquake Alert system is so effective that it is on par with traditional seismic networks in terms of detecting earthquakes and issuing alerts.
In the study, researchers said that “AEA demonstrates that globally distributed smartphones can be used to detect earthquakes and issue warnings at scale with effectiveness comparable to established national systems.” It goes on to say that while the accelerometers in smartphones are less sensitive than the equipment used in seismic networks, they are still capable of detecting ground motions.
The study goes on to say that around 70 per cent of the total smartphones in the world are powered by Android and that between 2021 and 2024, the Google AEA system detected an average of 312 earthquakes in 98 countries that had a magnitude between 1.9 and 7.8.
As it turns out, 85 per cent of users who received earthquake alerts also experienced sharing. Out of these, 36 per cent said they got an alert before the earthquake, while 28 per cent and 23 per cent of people said they received an alert during and after the shaking began. In the video below, the yellow dots indicate the number of smartphones nearby, while the red dot marks the epicentre.
The yellow circle is the P-wave’s estimated location, and the red circle is for the S-wave, which is responsible for most of the damage. The animation shows how phones detected shaking as the 6.2 magnitude earthquake progressed in Turkey, causing damage and loss of life in the country.
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How does Google’s Android Earthquake Alert system work?
In a blog post, Google explained that its Android Earthquake Alert system uses accelerometer sensors in smartphones to sense vibrations, which may or may not indicate if an earthquake is happening. If the system thinks an earthquake is imminent, it then sends a signal to the tech giant’s earthquake detection server along with an approximate location of where the shaking was recorded.
The server then combines data from various smartphones in the vicinity to determine if an earthquake is actually happening. With more than 2 billion devices around the world acting as mini-earthquake detectors, Google says its system is the world’s largest earthquake detection network.
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