[Rockhounds] ANDROID IS BECOMING A WORLDWIDE EARTHQUAKE DETECTION NETWORK

[Kreigh Tomaszewski]

Google is creating a worldwide, Android phone-powered earthquake alert
system. The first part of that system is rolling out today. If you opt in,
the accelerometer in your Android phone will become one data point for an
algorithm designed to detect earthquakes. Eventually, that system will
automatically send warnings to people who could be impacted.

It’s a feature made possible through Google’s strengths: the staggering
numbers of Android phones around the world and clever use of algorithms on
big data. As with its collaboration with Apple on exposure tracing
<https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/5/21355500/virginia-apple-google-contact-tracing-app-covid-alabama>
and
other Android features like car crash detection and emergency location
services, it shows that there are untapped ways that smartphones could be
used for something more important than doomscrolling.

https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/11/21362370/android-earthquake-detection-seismometer-epicenter-shakealert-google