Heads-up of seconds in Venezuela: How Android smartphones turned into a network of earthquake alerts system
A Google official confirmed to HT that the company's Android Earthquake Alerts System detected the initial seismic activity in Venezuela and sent warning notifications to users seconds before the earthquakes struck the South American country on Wednesday evening. The official did not specify how many users received the alerts.
The system, built into most Android phones, has been used to detect and warn of earthquakes in dozens of countries since 2020. A peer-reviewed assessment of its performance, funded by Google and published in the journal Science, has found that it can detect and warn of earthquakes at a scale comparable to established national seismic networks. Here’s how the system works:
How an earthquake is detected
Android relies on two detection methods. In California, Oregon and Washington, Google partnered with the US ShakeAlert system, which uses a network of 1,675 ground sensors to determine an earthquake’s location and size before passing...
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