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A recent study indicates that Google has utilized motion sensors on more than 2 billion mobile phones to develop an earthquake early-warning system, which is just as potent as standard seismographs.
Between 2021 and 2024, the company’s Android Earthquake Alerts (AEA) platform registered over 11,000 seismic events using phone accelerometers and transmitted more than 1,200 alerts to Android device users across 98 nations.
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“Seismic events represent a continuous hazard to communities around the world. Although we have become adept at pinpointing where they are probable to occur, we still encounter severe repercussions once they materialize,” Google representatives communicated in an announcement. “What if we were capable of granting individuals several valuable seconds of notice prior to the commencement of the tremor? Those seconds could offer ample time to descend from a ladder, step away from hazardous objects, and seek protection.”
Over recent decades, earthquake warning systems have been put into operation in countries like China, Mexico, Japan, South Korea and the United States. Nevertheless, these systems, constructed employing seismic stations as points, are costly, implying that the majority of quake-vulnerable countries possess only regional scope, and many others lack any coverage whatsoever.
To bridge this coverage deficiency, the Google researchers conceived the AEA system to employ smartphone and smartwatch accelerometers to discern rapidly propagating P-waves, which generally come before more devastating S-waves amid an earthquake. Leveraging this sensor network, AEA has the capacity to approximate the strength of a seismic event and its point of impact, and subsequently dispatch alerts to users within the zone of danger.
Breaking new ground
The researchers encountered numerous obstacles. Phone accelerometers exhibit significantly reduced precision compared to seismographs, leading the team to integrate data originating from the vast pervasiveness of Android devices and their inherent logging of motion data.
Converting these amassed signals into valuable warnings necessitated accounting for variations between devices and regional differences in geological conditions and construction patterns.
Currently functioning in multiple countries — including Greece, Turkey, the United States, Japan and Indonesia — the AEA had transmitted 1,279 alerts as of March 2024.
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User feedback indicates that 85% of individuals who experienced an earthquake received a warning, with 36% obtaining one before the commencement of shaking, 28% during, and 23% afterward.
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Only three of the notifications were incorrect, with a pair activated by thunderstorms and one more by an unrelated mass communication incident that produced vibration in a multitude of mobile devices.
However, obstacles linger, particularly in estimating the magnitude of substantial seismic events, like those that struck Turkey in February 2023. These tremors were notably underestimated by the AEA, which the researchers attributed to shortcomings in algorithms and gathering methodologies that have since been rectified.
Occurrences such as this prompt inquiries regarding life-saving software being possessed and governed by a technology giant, though Google asserts its innovation will simply “aid in supplementing official warning systems” rather than supplanting them.
“AEA illustrates that globally dispersed mobile devices can be employed to perceive seismic events and disseminate alerts at scale with an effectiveness akin to recognized national systems,” the researchers documented in the study. “Major seismic events continue to be the most consequential and challenging for all EEW [earthquake early-warning] systems, and the global execution of AEA bolsters endeavors to enhance detection through rapid, extensive data collection and input to algorithms.”
Ben TurnerSocial Links NavigationActing Trending News Editor
Ben Turner operates as a U.K.-situated writer and editor at Live Science. He reports on physics and astronomy, technology, and climate shifts. He obtained a degree in particle physics from University College London ahead of receiving training as a journalist. In moments apart from composing articles, Ben delights in delving into literature, engaging with the guitar, and amusing himself with chess.
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