Predicting earthquakes by phone

American scientists came up with the idea of ​​developing a special software to turn millions of smartphones around the world into seismic forecasting tools.

The number of smart mobile phone users is increasing very fast and those devices also become smarter over time. So scientists from the Berkeley Seismic Research Department in the US want to take advantage of the mobile phone's advantage in earthquake forecasting, the BBC reported.

Most smartphones today have accelerometers - a sensor that detects hand movements. When the user rotates the device, the image on the screen also rotates. According to Qingkai Kong, a researcher at the Berkeley Seismic Research Laboratory, the principle of the accelerometer operation can help them collect earthquake data.

Most smart mobile phones today own accelerometers,
A type of sensor can help people predict earthquake risk.

"Today smartphones contain all kinds of sensors and we can take advantage of them in many ways. We can only detect seismic magnitudes greater than 5 on the Richter scale, but with more modern accelerometers for smartphones in the future, we can forecast weaker earthquakes , " Kong said.

Kong and colleagues are developing a software for mobile phones to send ground movement data to a hub. If many phones in an area detect unusual movement of the earth, it is likely that earthquakes will occur in that area and scientists will issue warning messages. Because smartphone users live everywhere, scientists can predict earthquake risks in large areas.

The biggest challenge is that mobile phones must distinguish the movement of people with the motion of the ground. But Kong and his colleagues believe they can solve this challenge by creating an algorithm that can distinguish human actions - such as steps, running, and driving vehicles - with other forms of movement. .

"With that algorithm, the software in mobile phones will not be confused," Kong said.

The project of the Kong group is in its first phase. Researchers will recruit more people to perform the next steps. One of the things they will do is invite several thousand people to test the mobile earthquake forecast application.