Thread: Rock and Roll

you wish ...


En Zed is not known as the "shaky isles" for nothing

Google is trialing its new quake warning system here. SWMBO's phone gave out a warning signal seconds before we felt the quake (mine was switched off). It then follows up with a map showing the estimated location of the epicentre and magnitude along with safety advice. Apparently it uses the accelerometers built in to mobile phones using the Google Android system.
Pete

Huh, that's really interesting woodhutt. I went searching and found a bit of information. Here's a video from Google before it was rolled out to NZ early this year.



I find I struggle with these types of systems. On one hand there is massive social benefit in the capability, but on the other, the notion that Google will now be constantly monitoring my accelerometer in my phone leaves me feeling rather uncomfortable in the pit of my stomach. C'est la vie.

Originally Posted by LanceC

On one hand there is massive social benefit in the capability, but on the other, the notion that Google will now be constantly monitoring my accelerometer in my phone leaves me feeling rather uncomfortable in the pit of my stomach. C'est la vie.

I know what you mean Lance but as someone on another thread said, when it comes to privacy and you have a mobile, that boat sailed a long time ago.
I can see this system being of great benefit as a warning of potential tsunamis. The time between us receiving the alert and feeling the shake was only seconds but given that the epicentre was 85 miles out in the Tasman, that would probably translate into a reasonable time for people living near the coast to get themselves to higher ground before any waves hit.
Pete

We went through a fairly large earthquake (guria) when we were in PNG. As we lived in a mining town, all the buildings had been designed to be earthquake-resistant, there was no serious damage to buildings. The houses swayed but the design did its job. The native houses also had no structural damage, apart from some on the coast that were damaged by a small tsunami.
At one of our outstations, the four workers were woken by their water tank falling off its stand. Observing a bore going up the river as a result of the tsunami, the senior trainee there (local) set everyone to work measuring flows and taking water samples. One interesting thing they showed was that the quake had shaken the fresh water out of a large saturated tailings deposit. The deposit subsided by about a metre.

My brother lived in Christchurch, we were visiting, his dog started growling, he said "another quake coming" then we felt the tremor. DEWS (Dog Early Warning System)
Cheers,
Geoff.

OK, let's do a virtual trial of this app with a video production.

Bloke peacefully working in his shed. The phone goes off so he pulls it out, puts the specs on and starts reading the 'quake warning. Meantime the shed starts shaking, he gets beaned by a falling rafter and hits the deck. Then the bandsaw lands on top of him. Scene fades...

I prefer the dog warning.

mick