‘App detected nearly 400 temblors worldwide’

A smartphone app developed by scientists has successfully detected nearly 400 earthquakes since its launch earlier this year, paving the way for a warning system that can alert users before a disaster strikes.

The MyShake app, developed at University of California, Berkeley, harnesses a smartphone’s motion detectors to measure earthquake ground motion, then sends that data back to the seismological laboratory for analysis.

The eventual goal is to send early-warning alerts to users a bit farther from ground zero, giving them seconds to a minute of warning that the ground will start shaking.

Ten months of operation clearly shows that the sensitivity of the smartphone accelerometers and the density of phones in many places are sufficient to provide data quickly enough for early warning, researchers said.