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If you’re looking for an app that may save your life, save the lives of others and help the scientific community, all for free, you may have found that app.
MyShake is an app released on Friday that is designed to use millions of cell phones around the world to help detect earthquakes. The developers of MyShake at the University of California Berkeley, Qingkai Kong, Richard M. Allen, Louis Schreier and Young-Woo Kwon, want to create a worldwide seismic detection network that will sense early warning signs of impending quakes and alert users, giving them more time to prepare.
How MyShake Works
The MyShake app uses cell phone hardware to detect earthquakes. Smart phones have accelerometers that measure movement for many purposes, such as activity trackers, step counters and GPS apps.
MyShake uses phone accelerometers to monitor for seismic activity. The app has been programmed to know the difference between normal activity and the rumblings of an earthquake. MyShake can turn your phone into a seismometer, recording magnitude 5 earthquakes at distances of 10 km or less.
When the app detects movement that appears to be an earthquake, your phone sends anonymous information to the developers’ network to alert of a possible quake. If the network gets multiple app notifications from a geographic location, it can determine that an earthquake may be pending.
Using data sent from the app, the network then estimates the location and magnitude of the quake in real time. The developers have found that the app is 93% accurate in knowing the difference between earthquake motion and other activity.
MyShake uses very little cell phone power, according to the developers. Only when seismic activity is sensed by the app does it become active and sends data to the network.
The developers hope to add a feature that alerts the user to impending quakes in their area. Getting an early warning from the app could give people additional time to get to a safer place and protect them from danger.
This video shows how MyShake works:
The app works best when your phone is resting on a flat surface, such as a table. When you’re charging your phone or when the phone is on your desk or bedside table, it can be working to help detect earthquakes.
The developers hope that MyShake can supplement information provided by the Earthquake Early Warning System (EEW) in areas where scientific monitors are already in place. In regions where no EEW equipment exists, MyShake may become the exclusive method of early quake detection. Earthquake prone areas such as Haiti, Nepal, Afghanistan, Iran, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia may especially benefit from the use of this app.
The app informs you of recent and past quakes in your area. You can see from the app whether you are currently in a location historically prone to earthquakes and the seismic activity recently detected in your area.
The app also shows helpful information about steps you can take to stay safer during an earthquake.
The more people who download and use MyShake the more effective the app will be in helping to monitor earthquake activity around the world. The developers say, “Our goal is to build a worldwide seismic network and use the data to reduce the effects of earthquakes on us as individuals and on society as a whole.” By using this app you may help them reach their goal.
You can read more about how the app was developed at MyShake: A smartphone seismic network for earthquake early warning and beyond in Science Advances.
Availability
MyShake is available free from Google Play for Android devices. MyQuake app for iPhone and iPad is also available.
Your Thoughts
Would you use MyShake to help detect earthquakes? Do you live in an area prone to earthquakes? Would you like early warnings of earthquakes?
Share your thoughts about MyShake in the Comments section below!
HiCarolyn,
Interesting indeed 🙂
Never heard of this app – MyShake to help detect earthquakes, something that would help so many people and lives. No, we don’t live in an area prone to earthquakes, but we do have relatives who live there, and I would be forwarding this to them for sure. Anything is helpful to get early warnings of earthquakes, as it can save so many lives.
Thanks for sharing. Have a nice week ahead 🙂
Hi Harleena, I’m not surprised you haven’t heard of this app yet, it only came out on Friday. But MyShake was big news in the tech community.
What a great idea to crowdsource our phones and put them to work as earthquake detectors! With the billions of phones out there, we have the potential of getting a lot more coverage to help detect tremors around the world.
If lives are saved because of this app, then that would be a major scientific breakthrough. How cool is that?
WOW!
Amazing! See how our connections via this digital world can help us all!
Lori
Hi Lori, Yes, this is a fantastic example of how the entire world can come together to help one another. I hope other apps use this idea to crowdsource our phones to put them to good use.
This is my favorite kind of tech – free, available worldwide and life-changing. I’m glad you’re excited about it too, Lori!
Wow Carolyn, that’s truly amazing. I know that will help a lot of people who live in areas that deal with earthquakes. I can’t even imagine having the ground shake and even buildings collapse all around me with little to no warning.
Hurricanes are all I have to deal with, some tornadoes but you usually have some type of warning with them although they are like earthquakes. Sometimes you don’t have time to escape anywhere.
I love how technology is advancing and thank you for being the one to introduce us to so many new things.
~Adrienne
Hi Adrienne, I don’t live in an area that’s prone to earthquakes but we did have on a couple of summers ago. It was not a severe one but we were quite surprised that it happened in our area.
This app can bring earthquake detection to areas where no monitors exist. That could help many people have time to take cover and protect themselves. This type of tech, that has the potential to change the world, is my favorite type of tech.
Looks great Carolyn will use this for sure. We get a lot of quakes here and any warning or help we can give others could be crucial.
Hi Michael, Yes, in areas prone to earthquakes, this app can provide monitoring where none exists now. I hope the app does develop to a point where it can provide early warning to its users.
Hello Carolyn Ma,am!
Biggest informative post indeed.. 🙂
What a surprising news ma,am? Really is it possible to know before earthquake? I was really not heard about it yet.
Thanks to your site to know that it is really possibility to know before of earthquake.
I trust on technology. And therefore, technology has a more power and we should always try new things.
This “My Shake” app is really great discovery. Thanks for the team making it and you for sharing for the people so that they can use it. But I thing many people are not
knowing about this.
Keep sharing all over the world..
Thanks for sharing such a awesome post.. 🙂
Keep writing ma,am..
– Ravi.
Hi Ravi, I’m not an expert on earthquakes but often early tremors give warnings of larger quakes ahead. In areas where earthquake monitoring isn’t available, MyShake make provide valuable data about the earth’s movement.
MyShake detects tremors of magnitude 5 or above, which isn’t as sensitive as more sophisticated equipment. But the global coverage MyShake could provide may mean that much more data is available to help predict quakes.
You’re right, the app is only about a week old and many people don’t know about it. Thank you very much, Ravi, for helping to spread the word about this important app.
Hi Carolyn
Amazing app and the best thing is that it is quite easy to use and one can get the seismic predictions without much techie know-how.
People living in areas more vulnerable to fault lines would benefit from it more than other parts of the world and the need is just to make them aware of this app as you here did it so wonderfully.
Many thanks for sharing such amazing stuff.
Have a great weekend ahead.
Hi Mi, Great point, people can help in collecting seismic data without having any special knowledge of the field. How great that we can all pitch in to help others for free without much effort.
I do hope many people are able to use this app to bring knowledge to the world and perhaps save lives.
Wow. This is a very useful app. I hope it’s readily available worldwide.
Hi Kevin, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech. Yes, MyShake is available worldwide for Android phones. I hope you’re able to download it to help detect earthquakes around the world.