Android Earthquake Alert (AEA) System

Launched by:

Google in collaboration with UC Berkeley Seismology Lab (2020)

Coverage:
Active in 98 countries by 2024

Objective:

To provide early earthquake warnings using smartphone accelerometers, making it the world’s largest earthquake detection network.

Key Features:

• Detection Mechanism:
  Uses crowdsourced accelerometer data from Android smartphones to detect early P-waves before the damaging S-waves arrive.

• Alert Types:

  • BeAware: For light shaking

  • TakeAction: For strong shaking; bypasses silent mode

• Advance Warning Time:
  10 to 60 seconds, depending on distance from epicenter

• User Control:
  Alerts can be manually enabled or disabled

                                 

Performance (2021–2024):

• Earthquakes Detected: Over 18,000

• Strong Quakes (MMI Moderate+): Over 2,000

• Alerts Issued: 790 million

• Notable Alerts:

  • Turkey-Syria (2023, M7.8)

  • Philippines (2023, M6.7)

  • Nepal (2023, M5.7)

  • Turkey (2025, M6.2)

• Seismic Wave Types:

  • P-waves: Fastest, least damaging (used for early detection)

  • S-waves: Slower, more destructive

  • Surface waves: Most destructive, not monitored

• Algorithm Enhancements:

  • Distance estimation accurate up to 200 km

  • Magnitude estimation error reduced from ±0.5 to ±0.25

Challenges & Fixes:

• Issues:

  • Occasional late alerts (after shaking)

  • False positives (from non-seismic motion)

• Improvements:

  • Faster detection speed

  • Better filtering algorithms

Impact:

• Early warning access rose from 250 million (2019) to 2.5 billion people (2024)

• Highlights potential of low-cost, global sensor networks for disaster preparedness and environmental monitoring

UPSC GS-3 (Disaster Management):

• Example of tech-enabled community-centric disaster mitigation

• Aligns with Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction

• Model for replicable e-governance and ICT-based early warning systems in India