Android saves many lives by alerting before earthquakes, here is how

Many countries unfortunately lack infrastructure to create alert networks in the event of an earthquake. There are regions that have benefited from efficient systems for years, such as Japan or Mexico, but a large part of the world’s population remains vulnerable in the face of these extreme events which are constantly strengthening with global warming.

Android smartphones alert in the event of an earthquake

The study published in the journal Science shows the efficiency of Android Earthquake Alerts (AEA) explains that any Android smartphone turns into a seismic detector in the pocket.

Richard Allen, from the University of California to Berkeley, explains that “The global adoption of smartphone technology places sophisticated detection and alert capacities in people’s hands, both in rich and poor regions of the planet.”

The movements of the soil and buildings during upcoming earthquakes are detected by the accelerometers of smartphones, which are less sensitive than continuous instrumentation of the usual networks.

The figures are impressive, already because 70 % of smartphones worldwide are on Android, but especially because the AEA system has detected an average of 312 earthquakes per month between 2021 and 2024 in 98 countries. We are talking about magnitudes between 1.9 and 7.8.

AEA alerts the inhabitants for the earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 and more, or around 60 events and 18 million alerts per month. User’s return shows the efficiency of AEA since 85 % of those who have been alerted felt the tremors.

For temporality: 36 % received the alert before shackles, 28 % for and 23 % after the start of the earthquake.

An Android solution to complete the help in place

The functioning of AEA takes up the technologies of traditional systems using the difference between P, rapid but weak, and wave, slower but destructive. When the waves are detected, the Android smartphone transmits the data with an approximate location to Google servers that identify the seismic source before the alert is disseminated.

The alert speed is also impressive. If people close to the epicenter have no notice, those more distant are alerted before even feeling the waves. A few seconds are sometimes enough to take shelter or get out of a building.

Obviously, it is not a question of replacing the systems implemented by governments, but rather of being an additional help. Researchers wish to issue useful alerts in the greatest possible number of regions affected by earthquakes. AEA shows that global availability on smartphones as widespread as those under Android is possible.

Unfortunately, predicting the precise moment of an earthquake remains impossible. Earthquakes always make victims worldwide, hence the need to improve alert systems as much as possible. AEA is a very good complement and has proven its effectiveness on numerous occasions.