Google creates 'world's largest earthquake detection network' by linking all Android phones

Millions of smartphones can now function as mini seismometers, tech giant says

Scientists say international lockdowns reduced seismic noise caused by humans by up to 50 per cent (Getty )

Google has created the “world’s largest earthquake detection network” by allowing all Android phones to function as miniature seismometers.

The technology giant announced that the new functionality goes live this week, linking millions of smartphones together to form the Android Earthquake Alerts System.

“Starting today, your Android phone can be part of the Android Earthquake Alerts System, wherever you live in the world,” Marc Stogaitis, principal software engineer at Android, wrote in a blog post on Tuesday.

“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.”

It works by making use of accelerometers – a tiny device found in all smartphones that sense motion and velocity in order to track the device’s orientation.

The network calibrates a phone’s accelerometer to detect early signals that indicate an earthquake might be happening.

If a phone detects an earthquake it sends a signal to a Google server, together with the device’s location when the shaking took place.

By combining multiple signals, the network can analyse the severity of an earthquake and send alerts to phones in areas that may be affected, giving people a few seconds warning to get themselves to safety if needed.

“We’re essentially racing the speed of light (which is roughly the speed at which signals from a phone travel) against the speed of an earthquake,” Mr Stogaitis wrote. “And lucky for us, the speed of light is much faster!”

Android is the most popular mobile operating system in the world, used by manufacturers like Samsung and Sony.

At its annual developer conference last year, Google announced that there were now 2.5 billion active Android devices, having passed the 2 billion milestone in 2017.

Such a vast userbase allowed Google to negate the costly and time-consuming process of installing a ground network of seismometers.

Google’s home state of California, which is prone to severe earthquakes, already has more than 700 seismometers installed by the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

These seismometers help power the state’s ShakeAlert earthquake detection system, which will now be integrated into Android's system as part of a partnership between Google and the USGS.

“This announcement means that California’s world-class earthquake early warning system will be a standard function on every Android phone — giving millions precious seconds to drop, cover and hold on when the Big One hits," said California Governor Gavin Newsom.