Alexa
  • Directory of Taiwan

Get an early warning before a tremor with your smartphone

A new app sending out tremor warnings is now available for downloading. (Image courtesy of MyShake.berkeley.edu)

Get an early warning before a tremor with phone

A new app sending out tremor warnings is now available for downloading. (Image courtesy of MyShake.berkeley.edu)

A new app that turns a smartphone into a mobile seismometer is being launched by California scientists following a deadly earthquake that rattled southern Taiwan on February 6. On top of that, there are a few earthquake alert-like apps free for downloading into your mobile phones which can send warnings a few seconds ahead of the tremor. To help yourself and your loved one, get to know some of these apps.

A 6.4-magnitude tremor turned nine buildings into ruins in Tainan, among which a toppled 16-story residential building which took away 115 lives as of noon February 13. If these people had been informed of a strong quake ten seconds earlier, they might take immediate protective action to save their own lives.

As information technology has advanced, earthquake alerts of this kind are accessible for both Android and iOS and are free for downloading. The new app, known as MyShake, can detect an earthquake even when the cell device is being carried in a pocket or a bag. The free app is now open for public testing to improve its capabilities.

According to the app developer, destructive ground motions take time to move out from the epicentre of a large tremor, meaning people at more distant locations could receive vital warning on their phones a few seconds ahead of the tremors and that would enable protective action to effectively reduce casualties.

The alert app is expected to cut down the number of injuries in a quake by 50 percent; in simulations conducted by UC Berkeley scientists, the app detects a quake correctly in 93% of cases, BBC news agency quoted the developer as saying.

There are a few alternatives including “Earthquake Alert!” for Android phones; “Yurekuru call” and “Quakes – Earthquake Notifications” for iOS phones.

For Mandarin-speaking users, “Bingotimes Digital Technology(地震防災求援),” which was co-developed by Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau, and “EEW(地震速報)” are both free for downloading via Apple App Store and Google Play.