A future earthquake app for your smartphone? There is seemingly an app for everything and everyone i
A future earthquake app for your smartphone?There is seemingly an app for everything and everyone in this digital age — apps that range from undeniably pragmatic to hilariously feckless. A new type of earthquake detector app recently developed by Caltech seismologists and engineers would likely fall toward the pragmatic category. its underlying mechanisms are based on another well-versed piece of technology — global positioning systems, or GPS.Earthquake apps aren’t brand new — the American Red Cross has developed its free GPS-based earthquake app. GPS in smartphones are capable of detecting ground movement caused by earthquake of magnitude 7 and higher. GPS alone, however, often lags behind real time and tend to posit inaccurate locations. Most earthquake-prone regions such as Japan and Mexico rely on a network of highly advanced earthquake early-warning (EEW) systems, which give residents and energy plants sufficient time to take minimum safety measures. Systems like these, however, are extremely costly and require highly specialized maintenance.This new study, however, combines the mechanics of early-warning systems and GPS. They theorized that personal phones and electronic devices can act as “detection stations” that transmit earthquake data to a larger network — earthquake alerts for the general public that is detected and transmitted by the general public. The researchers found that the GPS-based early-warning systems were proficient enough to react to a simulated earthquake within 5 to 10 seconds of tremors. Meanwhile, their test against real data from the 2011 Tohoku earthquake could have given a warning of several minutes before the catastrophic tsunami struck.Many earthquake-prone regions, including states in the US, do not have fully functional EEW system. GPS is a technology that is already being carried around in pockets, and combining EEW with GPS may be an innovation that may save thousands of lives in the future.-DCMore reading:http://bit.ly/1ziyqNVhttp://bit.ly/1OEdwS9How earthquake early-warning systems work:http://on.doi.gov/OYXo4gThe American Red Cross’ earthquake app:http://rdcrss.org/1b59UsKSome completely non-earthquake-related apps that fall on the hilariously feckless scale:http://cnn.it/1EZu3xT -- source link
#earthquake#seismic#smartphone#geology