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Google quietly used its Android operating system to turn billions of phones into the largest earthquake detection network in human history.
Your Android phone can warn you about an earthquake before the shaking even starts. It’s built right in. You can do the same with your iPhone, too.
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iPhones don’t come with built-in earthquake warnings, but there are apps you can use, like MyShake, that send them from official networks. (J Pat Carter/Getty Images)
How it works
Earthquakes begin with fast, subtle P-waves. Those are the early rumbles most people don’t feel at all. But your phone’s accelerometer (yep, the same sensor that knows when you turn your phone sideways) can detect those waves.
When enough Android phones in the same area sense the same motion, Google’s system kicks in and sends early alerts to people who are about to get hit by the stronger, slower S-waves. Those are the ones that cause damage.
This gives you 15 to 60 seconds of warning. Not much time, but enough to move away from windows, duck under a desk or stop that ladder climb. Seconds matter when the ground starts rolling.
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Google has single-handedly transformed Android phones into the world’s largest earthquake detection system. (Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
This isn’t just theoretical
According to a study in Science, the Android-based earthquake detection network caught over 11,000 real earthquakes between 2021 and 2024.
It covers 98 countries and pushes out around 18 million alerts a month.
In some cases, people had over a minute’s notice before the shaking started. And false alarms? Just three total across more than 1,300 confirmed events. Try getting those odds from your weather app. That’s incredible for a free feature hiding in your phone.
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Even if you don’t live on the San Andreas Fault, make sure the setting is on in case you travel to an area where you need it:
- Open Settings, tap Safety & emergency.
- Tap Earthquake Alerts. Make sure it’s turned on.
- Tap Test Alert to preview what it sounds like.
Got a Wear OS smartwatch? It’ll buzz your wrist, too, even if your phone’s in another room.
Regardless of what smartphone you use, there are ways to use your device to detect earthquakes before they happen. (iStock)
What about iPhones?
Apple hasn’t enrolled in Quake University (yet). Though iPhones have accelerometers, too, Apple doesn’t use them for earthquake detection. If you’re on Team iPhone, use the free MyShake to get alerts from official seismic networks.
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