New York: Scientists have developed a new system that can turn smartphones into earthquake forecasting devices. This system could be an effective way to warn people about large earthquakes in time.
Developed by technology company Google and researchers from the US Geological Survey (USGS), the system uses data from millions of phones to detect the early signals of an earthquake. When a large number of devices register the same ground motion, the system identifies it and issues warnings to others in nearby areas.
According to a media report, the study published in the journal Science found that the network detected more than 300 earthquakes in a month. In the areas where the warnings were sent, 85 percent of people who later felt the tremors said they had received the warning. Of these, 36 percent received the warning before the earthquake, 28 percent received it during the tremors and 23 percent received it later.
According to the research, although this system cannot replace traditional seismic sensors, it can provide a large-scale, low-cost early warning tool for areas without a wide scientific network.
