Before and during last week’s powerful earthquakes in Venezuela, Android smartphones sent alerts to 11.4 million people, potentially saving lives. This is reported by the New York Times, citing figures and data from Google. Accordingly, the smartphones’ acceleration sensors detected the tremors three seconds after the earthquake began, and six seconds later the first warnings were sent to devices in the area where the earthquake was strongest. Another six seconds later, a significantly larger area was warned, including the capital Caracas. Millions of devices were then reached another six seconds later. But what exactly caused this is unclear.
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Number of victims still unknown
Google introduced the Android earthquake warning system (AEA) in 2020, which is based on sensors that are installed as standard in every smartphone. They can detect signals that indicate an earthquake, and the device sends them to Google’s server with an approximate location. There the information is evaluated by an algorithm. If there is enough evidence of an earthquake, the warnings are sent to devices in the affected area. While these usually do not arrive in time for people in the epicenter, those further away can be warned before the tremors begin. That was also the case in Venezuela, writes the New York Times. The country does not have a national earthquake warning system.
Venezuela was shaken by two earthquakes measuring 7.2 and 7.5 early on Wednesday evening (local time). The official death toll to date is 1,450, but according to an unofficial platform for searching for missing people, more than 47,000 people are currently missing, reports the dpa. More than 70,000 families are dependent on humanitarian aid after the disaster. Many people are sleeping outdoors or in emergency shelters. Venezuela was in a difficult situation before the natural disaster; in January, the US military captured the authoritarian ruler Nicolás Maduro and took him out of the country. There has recently been more and more criticism of Executive President Delcy Rodríguez.
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