Active Android phone users in New Zealand and Greece will be notified in the event of a dangerous earthquake that could occur nearby. As reported in an article in Science magazine, this is the goal announced by the leaders of Google, which have implemented a new feature for smartphones. Mobile phones with the update installed will therefore be able to detect seismic movements and earthquakes in the area and notify the user of the potential danger.
In New Zealand the Pacific plate collides with the Australian plate and their grinding regularly causes large earthquakes. An example of this is the 2011 earthquake in Christchurch which resulted in nearly 200 deaths. Greece is instead spread across three tectonic plates, with potentially damaging earthquakes occurring every year. “We have two big problems that we want to solve – says Marc Stogaitis, chief engineer of the project at Google – on the one hand the urgency to detect earthquakes in a timely manner and on the other the need to warn people as directly and punctually as possible. “. This preventative system takes advantage of the fact that light tends to travel faster through the Internet’s fiber optic cables than the waves of an earthquake. Alarm systems currently in use rely on seismometer data to detect the size and magnitude of an earthquake, then transmit a warning, via smartphone or loudspeaker, to residents of the area where the earthquake could occur. The anticipation may be spread only a few seconds before the quake, but this is often enough time for people to reach a safer place. And more deaths could be avoided by automatically closing elevators, gas lines and other systems before the seismic movement begins.
These are effective systems, the scientists explain, but they are quite expensive and complicated to develop. ShakeAlert, for example, deployed in California, Oregon and Washington, took 15 years and $ 60 million to build and requires an annual maintenance of $ 30 million. “A method based on the use of smartphones – observes Men-Andrin Meier, a seismologist who studies earthquake warning systems at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich – would have enormous potential. Being able to effectively predict seismic waves on the basis of a simple phone is a really interesting shortcut. “
Modern smartphones are equipped with accelerometers that monitor motion, the researchers explain, and which could be programmed to act as rudimentary seismometers, detecting the distinctive jitter caused by the pressure and shear waves of earthquakes. “Getting users to download the software was a challenge – comments Richard Allen, a seismologist at the University of California at Berkeley – it was much easier to implement the function in a standard system update”. Android phones have been publicly detecting earthquakes since last year, but so far those results have only been available in Google’s search results. In some cases there have been false alarms that are almost impossible to eliminate. When a phone detects an earthquake signal, it sends a message, along with an approximate location, to a central server. However, for the detection to be considered reliable, the algorithm must receive 100 similar reports. Once the seismic event is recognized, noisy and full-screen notifications are displayed on smartphones located in the places of interest. “So far, Android phones have detected more than a thousand earthquakes around the world – reports Allen – and the alerts have worked comparable to ShakeAlert and the Japanese alarm system”.
The technology has yet to be proven, other scientists point out, especially from the perspective of sparsely populated regions. In this sense, the authors argue, New Zealand will present a particular challenge. Many earthquakes in the region originate in places where the population density is not high. “In these cases the telephone system may not be the ideal method for detecting earthquakes and alerting users – assumes Caroline Francois-Holden, an independent seismologist – early warning systems must be designed to take into account the different aspects of the region. in which they will be applied “. “I would like to consult the quantitative measures of the program’s performance – concludes Francois-Holden – but until the performance is clear, it is difficult to judge the system on the basis of Google’s statements alone. The scars of the Christchurch earthquake are still open, all here. they know someone who has lost a friend, relative or loved one, so the promise of reducing the loss of life should be approached with extreme caution. “