Crowdsourced Smartphone Data Could Give Advance Notice for People in Quake Zones

JPL | APRIL 12, 2015

Smartphones and other personal electronic devices could, in regions where they are in widespread use, function as early warning systems for large earthquakes, according to newly reported research.

Cell phones can detect ground motion and warn others before strong shaking arrives. Image credit: "Everyone Check Your Phones - NYC" by Jim Pennucci (CC BY 2.0)/Flickr

The study, led by scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey, found that the sensors in smartphones and similar devices could be used to build earthquake warning systems. Despite being less accurate than scientific-grade equipment, the GPS (Global Positioning System) receivers in a smartphone can detect the permanent ground movement (displacement) caused by fault motion in a large earthquake.

Using crowdsourced observations from participating users' smartphones, scientists could detect and analyze earthquakes, and transmit customized earthquake warnings back to them and other users.

Earthquake early warning systems detect the start of an earthquake and rapidly transmit warnings to people and automated systems before they experience shaking at their location. While much of the world's population is susceptible to damaging earthquakes, the systems are currently operating in only a few regions around the globe, including Japan and Mexico.

The authors found that the sensors in smartphones and similar devices could be used to issue warnings for earthquakes of approximately magnitude 7 or larger, but not for smaller, yet potentially damaging earthquakes.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

Citizen Scientists Discover Yellow "Space Balls"

Citizen scientists scanning images from Spitzer Space Telescope, an orbiting infra-red observatory, recently stumbled upon a new class of curiosities that had gone largely unrecognized before: yellow balls.

Shrinking habitats have adverse effects on world ecosystems

An extensive study of global habitat fragmentation--the division of habitats into smaller and more isolated patches--points to major trouble for the world's ecosystems.

Asteroid to Fly By Earth on January 26

An asteroid, designated 2004 BL86, will safely pass about three times the distance of Earth to the moon on January 26. From its reflected brightness, astronomers estimate that the asteroid is about a third of a mile (0.5 kilometers) in size. The flyby of 2004 BL86 will be the closest by any known space rock this large until asteroid 1999 AN10 flies past Earth in 2027.

Materials for the next generation of electronics and photovoltaics

Mark Hersam, a professor of materials science engineering, chemistry and medicine at Northwestern University, has developed a method to separate nanomaterials by size, therefore providing a consistency in properties otherwise not available.

Retreat of Yakutat Glacier

Located in the Brabazon Range of southeastern Alaska, Yakutat Glacier is one of the fastest retreating glaciers in the world. It is the primary outlet for the 810-square kilometer Yakutat ice field, which drains into Harlequin Lake and, ultimately, the Gulf of Alaska.

Smartphone microscope detects nanoparticles and viruses

Researchers developed a lightweight microscope that attaches to a cell phone. The compact fluorescent imaging device can detect single nanoparticles and viruses. It might one day be used to conduct biomedical tests in remote and resource-limited areas.