New Delhi: Google on Tuesday announced that it is working a new feature that will send alerts of nearby earthquakes and for this, it is going to use people's Android phones as detectors. ALSO READ | Google Introduces ‘People Cards’ That Helps You Build Your Public Profile For Search Engine; Here's How To Make One


If the feature proves to be quick and effective, then the warnings could help mitigate tragic circumstances for many, especially in developing countries that lack a sophisticated system for the same.

The feature will first roll out in California as the state has a ground network of seismometers, and eventually be brought to other states and countries.

For this, the search giant has consulted Seismology experts who revealed that using smartphones as mini-seismographs is a major technological advancement. The tests at this point will work on minimising the likelihood of false alerts and the system will have to depend on algorithms for public safety.

Android's Principal Software Engineer Marc Stogaitis announced the initiative by Google in an official blog.



"Installing a ground network of seismometers, as California has done, may not be feasible in all impacted areas around the world. So we’re using the reach of Android’s platform to help detect earthquakes,"  Marc Stogaitis wrote.


Talking about making the feature globally accessible, he stated, "Starting today, your Android phone can be part of the Android Earthquake Alerts System, wherever you live in the world. This means your Android phone can be a mini seismometer, joining millions of other Android phones out there to form the world’s largest earthquake detection network".


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How Will Google Detect Earthquake From Android Devices?


Software Engineer Marc Stogaitis also explained how the technology works: All smartphones come with tiny accelerometers that can sense signals which indicate an earthquake might be happening. If the phone detects something that it thinks may be an earthquake, it sends a signal to Google's earthquake detection server, along with a coarse location of where the shaking occurred.


The server then combines information from many phones to figure out if an earthquake is happening. Once confirmed, the alerts will be sent. It will all happen as they state almost at the "speed of light".

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