Did you know that Android smartphones have possessed built-in earthquake detection functionality since 2020? It uses the smartphone’s accelerometer to help create an early warning and detection network for earthquakes.
This capability was tested yesterday during a 5.1-magnitude earthquake near San Jose, California. This altered Android smartphone users seconds before the shock waves hit. Which to some extent helped them prepare.
Google‘s Dieter Bohn and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai were also among the California residents who received an early warning of the earthquake.
The alert came just before, felt like a long one, hope everyone is ok pic.twitter.com/mUzLFkkWxz
— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) October 25, 2022
However, this isn’t the first time Android’s earthquake detection system has issued an alert. Last year, the system provided early warnings during an earthquake in the Philippines.
How to enable the Android earthquake detection system?
- First of all, open ‘Settings’ on your smartphone
- Now head over to ‘Safety & emergency’ (If you don’t find Safety & emergency, tap ‘Location Advanced’)
- Turn Earthquake alerts on
Note: Android’s earthquake detection system is currently unavailable in India. But we hope the tech giant will soon introduce this life-saving feature for Indian users.
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