The mobile devices that vibrate incessantly in millions of pockets around the world could help predict tremors on a much larger scale. The GPS receivers in smartphones and similar devices, while not as sensitive as scientific-grade instruments, could combine to act as an early warning system against large earthquakes in regions where they are widely used, according to a U.S. Geological Survey release.<\/p>\n
Studying data from Japan\u2019s 2011 Tohoku-oki quake and a simulated event on California\u2019s Hayward fault, USGS researchers proved that a smartphone-based warning system is a viable alternative to other early warning systems. Their findings were published online in Science Advances.<\/p>\n
Earthquake early warning systems can save lives and protect property from quakes and tsunamis, but are often expensive to implement. In fact, only a handful of countries maintain these systems, including the U.S., Japan and Mexico. Developing countries top the list of the world\u2019s most earthquake-prone regions, creating a particular need for early warning solutions that exists independently of infrastructure.<\/p>\n
Such a system would utilize the GPS receivers and accelerometers in smartphones, issuing warnings before strong quakes begin. The study found that only a small percentage of smartphone users in an area need to participate for a system to work — on the order of a few thousand people in a large city — but only earthquakes around magnitude 7 or larger are strong enough for the devices to detect.<\/p>\n
In countries such as the U.S., where comprehensive early warning systems already exist, smartphones could provide crowdsourced augmentation and offer alerts in regions with less coverage.<\/p>\n
Thomas Heaton, co-author of the USGS study and professor of Engineering Seismology at Caltech, says crowdsourced data can improve earthquake-detecting networks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThirty years ago it took months to assemble a crude picture of the deformations from an earthquake,\u201d Heaton said in the release. \u201cThis new technology promises to provide a near-instantaneous picture with much greater resolution.\u201d<\/p>\n
Featured Image: Damage done during the Nepal earthquake of 2015. (Credit: Krish Dulal\/CC BY 4.0)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" USGS research finds that smartphones can function as earthquake early warning systems, providing an inexpensive solution for high-risk areas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":21910,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[172,60,109,67],"class_list":["post-22077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-earth-atmosphere","tag-earthquake","tag-featured","tag-news-ticker","tag-smartphone"],"remote_post_permalink":false,"remote_post_featured_image":false,"yoast_head":"\n