Ordinary Android smartphones have become part of the world’s largest earthquake early warning system. Researchers at Google and the University of California, Berkeley, joined more than 2.5 billion devices in 98 countries into a single network that uses built-in accelerometers to detect seismic shaking.
The system detected more than 11,000 earthquakes between 2021 and 2024, 85% of which matched data from professional seismological catalogs. The accuracy of magnitude estimates improved significantly — the average error was cut in half. Thanks to Google Play Services, users do not need to install any additional apps: the network runs automatically and warns about shaking in real time.
The system performed especially well in Nepal, where in 2024 more than 10 million users received warnings, sometimes up to a minute before the earthquake began. Survey results showed that 85% found the notifications useful, and fewer than 0.1% of users turned off the service.
This approach is especially valuable for countries with limited resources. If early warning was once available to 250 million people, now billions may have a chance to prepare for the impact of the disaster.
