Saving your life when the Big One finally rocks California? Yeah, there’s an app for that.
There will be soon, anyhow, if Richard Allen has his way. The director of the Berkeley Seismological Laboratory, Allen has been a leading researcher and proponent of earthquake early warning systems. These networks of sensors and communication devices are designed to give train operators, nuclear power plants, surgeons, and seismophobic citizens a few precious seconds—or even minutes—lead-time to get ready for the coming seismic waves.
Just days ago, in a presentation at the World Science Forum in Rio de Janeiro, Allen announced that as soon as next year, these systems may have yet another tool to better forecast and forewarn coming quakes: the smartphone in your pocket.
