A software update turns the Google Pixel 4a, Galaxy Note 20, and other Android phones into earthquake detectors – and folds them into an early warning system, too.
With a new software feature, Android phones will soon warn you when earthquakes are coming – and become part of the early-warning system itself. Conceivably, this will work with any phone packing an accelerometer, from the new Samsung Galaxy Note 20 to nearly every Android phone released in the last decade. The new feature taps into an existing network that the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services uses to send out earthquake alerts, called ShakeAlert. Google collaborated with both organizations to integrate Android phones into this system, both to directly warn handset owners of seismic activity and to use the devices to track earthquakes as well, according to Android principal software engineer Marc Stogaitis writing on an official blog post.
