Apple Smart phones Soon To Detect Earthquakes?

With the MEMS sensors, it might just be true in
the near future.
Smart phones these days do a lot more than just
let you communicate. You can stay connected,
and there are times they come as a blessing for
those with disabilities. However, a new research
suggests that smartphone and laptop sensors
can soon help you warn of moderate and large
earthquakes (measuring 5 and above on a
Richter scale).
A report of Livescience.com adds "Small sensors
found in most smart phones and laptops are
sensitive enough to detect the movement of
moderate and large earthquakes, and could
vastly expand the information gathered during
seismic events in densely populated cities. The
devices, called micro-electro-mechanical
systems (MEMS) accelerometers, measure
movement in three dimensions and tell the
phone's screen to flip from horizontal to vertical
when the phone tilts. In laptops, they detect the
motion of falling, and force the hard drive into a
safe mode prior to impact. "
These sensors, similar to the ones found on the
iPhone 4 and 5, have been put to test by
researchers at Italy's National Institute of
Geophysics and Volcanology. They conclude that
it can collect important data, but there is a catch
— the quakes need to be of magnitude of 5 or
greater, and the device needs to be close to the
epicenter of the tectonic-movement. While the
chip for now cannot detect small movements, it
is expected to soon be fixed too. The research
group is said to be testing a 100 times more
sensitive sensor to read small quakes too.
The Stanford University in California has taken
its research a step further, it has set up an
international network of netizens who will help
the project, called the Quake-Catcher Network .
Not to be confused with the game Quake Live,
which is known to entertain many researcher's
in-between real world quakes though!