A new earthquake warning system comes to California, powered by Google

張子揚

引言：你有沒有想過自己的手機有一天會變成地震儀？安卓手機用戶不必安裝任何APP，就能在地震來臨時收到警報。目前這一地震警報系統(tǒng)只覆蓋了美國加州，但谷歌表示這一系統(tǒng)有望給全球發(fā)出地震警報。

Android phones will be used to sense earthquakes around the world and may one day be able to provide global warnings， with the first mass alert system unveiled Tuesday in California， Google announced.

谷歌宣布，安卓手機將能用來感知世界各地的地震，也許有一天還能給全球發(fā)出地震警報，首個大眾警報系統(tǒng)于8月11日在美國加州上線。

Google， which helped develop Android， worked with California and the US Geological Survey to build the quake alerts into all phones that run the commonplace mobile operating system. Android users who have enabled location services and are near a quake of magnitude 4.5 or greater will receive a full-screen earthquake warning telling them to drop to the floor and seek cover.

安卓手機的研發(fā)公司谷歌與加州和美國地質(zhì)調(diào)查所合作，在所有運行安卓操作系統(tǒng)的手機中植入了地震警報系統(tǒng)。開通了定位功能的安卓用戶在4.5級以上地震來臨時將收到全屏顯示的地震警報，告知他們伏在地上，尋找掩護。

The screen also will provide estimates of the quake’s magnitude and distance from the user. Depending on their distance from a quake， people could get several seconds or perhaps a minute of warning.

手機屏幕還會顯示預(yù)估的震級以及地震發(fā)生地與用戶的距離。根據(jù)與震中的距離遠(yuǎn)近，人們可以收到數(shù)秒或一分鐘的警報。

Users won’t need to download California’s MyShake app in order to receive the alerts. That application， developed by the University of California， Berkeley and launched last year， has been downloaded by only about 1 million of California’s 40 million residents. By contrast， many millions of people own Android phones.

用戶無需下載加州的MyShake應(yīng)用就能收到警報。加州大學(xué)伯克利分校研發(fā)并于去年推出的這款應(yīng)用只有大約100萬加州居民下載過，而加州人口共有4000萬。相比之下，擁有安卓手機的人達(dá)數(shù)百萬。

"This announcement means that California’s world-class earthquake early warning system will be a standard function on every Android phone — giving millions precious seconds to drop， cover and hold on when the big one hits，” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement.

加州州長加文·紐森在一份聲明中稱：“這一公告意味著加州的世界級地震預(yù)警系統(tǒng)將是每個安卓手機的一個標(biāo)準(zhǔn)功能——給數(shù)百萬人爭取寶貴的時間在地震來襲時伏地、找遮擋，并堅持到底。”

IPhone users won’t receive the alerts through Apple’s operating system， but they can download the MyShake app.

蘋果手機用戶不會通過蘋果操作系統(tǒng)收到警報，但他們可以下載MyShake應(yīng)用程序。

Also Tuesday， Google announced that Android phones will begin detecting earthquakes from around the world through their motion-sensing accelerometers.

谷歌當(dāng)日還宣布，安卓手機將開始通過動作感應(yīng)加速器來感應(yīng)世界各地的地震。

"Your Android phone can be a mini-seismometer， joining millions of other Android phones out there to form the world’s largest earthquake detection network，” according to a Google blog post.

谷歌的一條博文中寫道：“你的安卓手機可以作為一個小型地震儀，和其他數(shù)百萬安卓手機連在一起形成全世界最大的地震監(jiān)測網(wǎng)絡(luò)?！?/p>

More than 2 billion devices run the Android operating system.

超20億手機用戶使用安卓操作系統(tǒng)。

Hundreds of millions of people live in earthquake-prone areas. But many countries lack the resources to build detection and alert systems， Google said.

谷歌稱，數(shù)以億計的人生活在地震多發(fā)地區(qū)，但許多國家沒有足夠的資源來建立監(jiān)測和警報系統(tǒng)。

The information will be used at first to provide fast and accurate information on Google Search. But Google said it could begin sending out earthquake alerts next year.

這些信息將首先被用來在谷歌搜索中提供快速準(zhǔn)確的信息，但谷歌表示明年可能開始發(fā)送地震警報。