Government earthquake alert systems are now being supplemented around the world with Google accelerometer data on smartphones and smartwatches, effectively creating a Google-wide early warning system.

The system has increased the number of people in earthquake risk zones capable of receiving alerts by 1,000%, with 2024 seeing over 2 billion devices receiving one.

Called the Android Earthquakes Alert system (AEA), it uses data from Android-powered devices to capture the faint signal of P-waves, a seismic tremor that precedes the more destructive S-waves.

Using the network of devices like a giant sponge, it’s a kind of detection through crowdsourcing , and allows the AEA network to predict where earthquakes may strike, and how powerful they will come to be based on the sheer preponderou

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