In a state of natural calamities, communication channels are the most impacted and we begin to wonder if that’s just how far technology has been explored. However, did you know that the ubiquitous smartphone can detect earthquakes? And no, we don’t mean you need to download a certain app for that.
Your smartphone or tablet comes with a basic seismometer that can detect seismic activity while the phone is placed on a flat table.
A Digital Inspirational blog notes that for your smart device’s seismometer to work, you don’t need additional apps and just the built-in web browser can help you gauge an earthquake.
All you have to do is launch the phone or tablet’s web browser and open http://ctrlq.org/earthquakes/seismograph.html. You should see a continuously moving waveform, but if you even slightly shake or tilt your mobile device, simulating seismic activity, the graph will capture them in real-time much like a seismograph.
The graph will vary depending upon how vigorous the seismic activity (here, shaking of the phone) is and also change based on the orientation of the device.
This basic seismograph is written using simple JavaScript. Modern-day smartphones have built-in accelerometers and gyroscopes and as you move the physical hardware, the changes in the orientation of the device and acceleration are detected by the browser, which are then mapped into the seismograph.
This motion data is then captured by the HTML5 DeviceOrientation and DeviceMotion events of the browser. You can also test this feature if you are using Google Chrome on the desktop by turning on the Accelerator option under Sensors inside Chrome Dev Tools to simulate motion.
