Here’s How Google’s Earthquake Alert System Detected The Earthquake In Los Angeles / Google

Back in , Google announced that it has developed a system in which Android mobiles will be used to provide earthquake warning alerts to people. The company worked with the United States Geological Survey and California to develop the alerts system. With this system, if a person has enabled the location services of their Android mobile and they are near an earthquake of magnitude 4.5 or higher, they will receive a warning notification displaying the magnitude as well as the distance of the earthquake from that user.

If you live in Los Angeles, you probably noticed the earthquake that appeared a few day back. It was reported that this earthquake has a magnitude of 4.5, and this was felt across the region, reported the United States Geological Survey. Following this incident, Google shared an interesting visualization of what Android smartphones detected during the earthquake. The company shared this visualization via Twitter and it shows how the Android Earthquake Alert System of Google detected an earthquake in Los Angeles. This system converts Android smartphones into seismometers which ultimately help to alert users about an earthquake.

Android engineering Vice President at Google, , posted a video on Twitter displaying the earthquake that appeared in Los Angeles. He wrote in the tweet that Android smartphones and #USGS alerted the residents of Southern California before the 4.5 earthquake that appeared last night. In the video, it can be seen that what was detected by the sensors of Android smartphones which were acting as mini seismometers. Burke wrote that the yellow and red concentric circles display the expected locations of the P & S waves. The company then compiles this data in real-time to provide useful information to users.

Android phones and gave Southern California residents an early warning to the 4.5 earthquake last night Here’s what the phones’ sensors, acting as seismometers, detected. Yellow and red concentric circles are expected locations of the P and S waves.

— Dave Burke (@davey_burke)

However, the company is not yet using the Android Earthquake Alert System to send alert notifications to users. Instead, the tech giant surfaces a card in Google Search for those people who are searching for terms such as ‘earthquake’ or other related words. It also asks those users if they felt shaking to share a fast and accurate view of the area affected by the earthquake. The company is working on this system and will improve this feature in the future to provide real data to users. Furthermore, back in August of this year, the company also integrate the early warning ShakeAlert system from California and the USGS (United States Geological Survey).