Using smartphones for early earthquake warning

MyShake - A free, very useful application on Android that every smartphone user can download and install on their device, can warn of earthquakes a few minutes before they happen.

The MyShake application was developed by the Berkeley Seismological Laboratory, part of the University of California (USA), by a group of programmers in Silicon Valley based on similar technology of "accelerometer", and has just been introduced by this group.

MyShake is a free Android app that is said to “help users detect and warn” them minutes before an earthquake occurs.

According to the programming team, only 300 smartphones with MyShake installed within a range of 110 km2 will have enough data for the application to detect an impending earthquake (if any).

Although the application cannot prevent a possible fire, it can provide early warning, helping users take proactive precautions.

Image of an earthquake.

“MyShake cannot replace traditional seismic networks, but it can provide faster and more accurate earthquake warnings in places that are not connected to traditional seismic observation networks. This can save lives in earthquake-affected areas,” said Richard Allen, MyShake project leader and director of the Berkeley Seismological Laboratory.

There are currently 3.4 billion smartphone users worldwide - as of the end of 2015, according to Mobility Ericsson. Therefore, the creator of the MyShake app hopes to build a global seismic network.

In 2015, Nepal suffered two earthquakes in April and May, killing 9,000 people, injuring more than 22,000 and damaging or completely destroying 900,000 houses.

Japan is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world. For example, in the early hours of November 14, 2015, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake shook the southwestern coast of Japan. In May 2015, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake off the coast of southern Japan shook buildings in Tokyo and was felt across the country.

According to XHTT