What if we have an app that can warn us of an impending earthquake? Here’s how it would work and how effective it might be.
New notification: “An earthquake is coming”
According to some researchers, coordinated byUniversity of Bergamo, it would be possible to use smartphone applications to detect the arrival of earthquakes. The system would be based on Earthquake Network, a citizen project active since 2013, which sends a pre-alert notification in the event of seismic activity. The news, reported by Wired, speaks of a notice ranging from 5 to 50 seconds. Definitely not long enough to run away, but the time it takes to find shelter and get into a safe position.
It must be said that public pre-warning systems already exist that are based on the detection of seismic waves. However, these enormous infrastructures are not always fully operational. These are systems with significant management costs. Furthermore, there is, in most cases, the lack of reliable communication networks to rely on. This is why we thought about the use of smartphones: everyone has them and you can communicate with them almost anywhere. Thanks to these characteristics, the Earthquake Network and its application was born in 2013.
The app, that matters 6.5 million downloads, is available in 8 languages. In Italy it sees the participation of approx 650 thousand citizens for a total of more than 50 remotes detected. Among the successful examples of the network, there is the case of the earthquake in Albania of 26 November 2019. The quake, of magnitude 6.4, was announced to the population, via app, with 7 seconds notice.
And you? How would you react if instead of your partner’s long-awaited WhatsApp message you read “Earthquake in 5 seconds”?