Credit: Google
- Android phones gave early warnings for an earthquake near San Jose yesterday.
- This was due to Google offering built-in earthquake detection functionality.
- The phones also beat iPhones to the punch when it came to early warning alerts.
Android phones have offered built-in earthquake detection functionality since 2020, using your phone’s accelerometer to help create an early warning and detection network for quakes. This functionality was put to the test during a 5.1-magnitude earthquake near San Jose, California yesterday, and it seems to have passed with flying colors.
Dave Burke, Google’s vice-president of engineering for Android, tweeted a neat visualization showing loads of Android phones detecting the quake before the shock waves hit. Check it out below.