Google has begun to use mobile phones with the Android operating system as an alternative tool to help detect earthquakes, turning the ‘smartphone’ into a mini seismograph through the use of its sensors.
Most smartphones have sensors such as accelerometers, which can detect signals that indicate that an earthquake is occurring, as Google explained in a statement.
In this way, starting this Tuesday, every time an Android phone detects a signal that is identified as an earthquake, it will be sent, along with the location information, to the servers of the Android Earthquake Alert System, as shown. meet the initiative.
The American company has explained that the speed of signals on a mobile phone, close to that of light, is greater than the speed at which earthquakes spread.
This technology will be completed with the use of the Google search application, with which the company will send notifications to the rest of the users near the area to confirm that they have not felt the earthquake.
In addition, Google has begun sending alerts to Android mobile users to warn them that an earthquake is going to occur in the next few moments and with instructions to warn them to take cover.
This system, which is currently only available in California (United States), sends alerts based on a physical network of more than 700 seismographs that measure seismic activity in the United States region, one of the most earthquakes in the country. Google hopes to extend the feature to more regions in the future.
Source: dp
