Go Back
  • For Business
  • |
  • Warnings
  • Data Suite
  • Newsletters
  • Advertising
  • Superior Accuracy™
At least 100 dead, major disaster declared after catastrophic Texas flood. Read the latest Chevron right
Flash flood threat to continue in central Texas into midweek. Get details Chevron right

Columbus, OH

73°F
Location Chevron down
Location News Videos
Use Current Location
Recent

Columbus

Ohio

73°
No results found.
Try searching for a city, zip code or point of interest.
settings
Columbus, OH Weather
Today WinterCast Local {stormName} Tracker Hourly Daily Radar MinuteCast Monthly Air Quality Health & Activities

Around the Globe

Hurricane Tracker

Severe Weather

Radar & Maps

News

News & Features

Astronomy

Business

Climate

Health

Recreation

Sports

Travel

For Business

Warnings

Data Suite

Newsletters

Advertising

Superior Accuracy™

Video

Winter Center

AccuWeather Early Hurricane Center Top Stories Trending Today Astronomy Heat Climate Health Recreation In Memoriam Case Studies Blogs & Webinars

News / Weather News

The world's largest earthquake detection network is pocket sized

By Michael Kuhne, AccuWeather staff writer

Published Jan 19, 2017 3:50 PM EDT | Updated Jul 1, 2019 5:25 PM EDT

Copied

Citizens around the world now have the opportunity to be part of one of the newest scientific developments in earthquake research using only their smart phones.

Since its launch in February last year, the University of California Berkeley's MyShake application has garnered close to 250,000 downloads. It has made great strides in collecting earthquake data from across the planet.

"It truly is global," Berkeley Seismological Laboratory Director Richard Allen said. "This is by far the largest, global seismic network there is."

MyShake

The MyShake application shows the location of users around the world.

University of California, Berkeley

The app harnesses accelerometers, or measurements of acceleration, of modern smart phones. Most mobile devices can provide a 95 percent rate of accuracy in detecting an earthquake over everyday movements in the device, Allen added.

"It's shockingly accurate," he said, citing that smart phones can record waveforms related to earthquakes of 2.5 magnitude, which would often go unnoticed by an individual.

The application, and its unique algorithm for monitoring a phone's accelerometer for seismic activity, was developed jointly between the university and the Deutsche Telekom Silicon Valley Innovation Center.

The long-term objective of the project is not only to gather seismic data for research, but also to provide better hazard warnings to the public, Allen said.

"This project has been an overwhelming success," he said.

Within 24 hours of its launch last year, the number of downloads neared 50,000. Since then, the application's use has expanded and notification systems were added for users in December.

RELATED:

Nepal reopens earthquake-damaged UNESCO sites
Preparing for the unpredictable: Megaquake, tsunami may forever alter the Pacific Northwest
POLL: Who should pay for fracking-induced earthquake damages?

Users can determine what kind of data notifications they want to receive based on location and by magnitude.

"Right now, about 10,000 phones contribute data to our archive each day," Allen said.

When an earthquake occurs, the users' phones send the information back to a central server for analysis. The use of smart phone seismometers has already proved useful to the researchers, who are just beginning to scratch the surface of the data they've collected.

Allen said there are typically 100 to 150 locations in static seismic networks they could have gotten data from in the past. However, with an expanding global network of portable seismometers, data can now be collected from more remote regions of the world.

For example, Allen said areas like Nepal do not offer a lot of data in terms of seismometers, but there are thousands of smart phone users in the region. The application could provide a better look at the physics and processes related to the region's quakes in the future.

"We're just getting a start at looking at the earthquake rupture process and trying to answer some of these fundamental questions," Allen said. "In terms of the application, we want to start providing people with an ever more rapid alert. The goal is to get faster and faster and provide people with [warning time]."

Non-autoplay Trending Playlist (for lower within stories on any topic as this list contains viral videos)

At the moment, the application sends out a notification to users only after an earthquake occurs. The goal for the future is for the detection system to send out a notification to people located away from the epicenter before they feel the shaking, he added.

"We are always looking to expand our user base," he said, adding that using the phones collectively, more data can be gathered to further the research initiative and lead to greater advancements in warning time.

The application can be downloaded by those using a smart phone, which runs an Android operating system. Allen said that development for an iPhone version is currently underway and should be available to users by the spring of 2017.

Report a Typo

Weather News

Weather News

At least 100 dead, major disaster declared after Texas flood

Jul. 9, 2025
video

When were warnings issued for the flash floods in Texas?

Jul. 8, 2025
Weather News

US Coast Guard rescue swimmer hailed as a hero after saving 165 kids f...

Jul. 8, 2025
Weather News

The faces of the Texas flooding tragedy

Jul. 7, 2025
Severe Weather

Severe weather to rumble in the central US through the holiday weekend

Jul. 6, 2025
Weather News

Record sargassum seaweed piles up on Caribbean islands, Gulf

Jul. 2, 2025
Weather News

Alabama teen in ICU after lightning strike hits boat, causing burns an...

Jul. 2, 2025
Show more Show less Chevron down

Topics

AccuWeather Early

Hurricane Center

Top Stories

Trending Today

Astronomy

Heat

Climate

Health

Recreation

In Memoriam

Case Studies

Blogs & Webinars

Top Stories

Weather News

Camp Mystic, site of deadly Texas flooding, is in 'Flash Flood Alley'

11 hours ago

Weather News

‘Oh my God, we’re floating’: What people faced in amid Texas floods

22 hours ago

Weather Forecasts

Flash flood threat to continue in central Texas into midweek

2 minutes ago

Weather News

How torrential flooding wrought tragedy at girls camp in Texas

1 day ago

Severe Weather

Flooding downpours, severe thunderstorms to mitigate heat in East

13 hours ago

More Stories

Featured Stories

Travel

FAA investigating part of a Delta Air Lines wing fell onto a driveway

5 days ago

Health

Three hospitalized, 21 injured after bee attack in France

1 day ago

Weather News

France leads Europe in saying au revoir to beach and park smoking

5 days ago

Weather News

125,000-year-old ‘fat factory’ run by Neanderthals discovered

1 day ago

Weather News

An ambitious vision of a city built from lava

1 day ago

AccuWeather Weather News The world's largest earthquake detection network is pocket sized
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs AccuWeather Connect RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™ Personal Weather Stations
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Winter Center
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs AccuWeather Connect RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™ Personal Weather Stations
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Winter Center
© 2025 AccuWeather, Inc. "AccuWeather" and sun design are registered trademarks of AccuWeather, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | About Your Privacy Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

...

...

...