Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

mtcwby t1_itui1kn wrote

I felt the quake and thought it was interesting but my phone told me after the fact by a couple of minutes. Other than a Tsunami it's hard to see how it makes that much difference when it's after the fact.

19

lemlurker t1_itur0ok wrote

depends where you are. if youre close the time difference between quake and detection is low, further away the more time between it happening and the shockwaves arriving

18

naura_ t1_itv8re8 wrote

It depending on how deep the earthquake is, it could give you time to get cover.

The 5.1 in san jose was just 8km below the surface. Some quakes have to travel 30-50km before reaching the surface.

9

BellerophonM t1_itw28iv wrote

As well as range, it also depends on if your phone is set up to receive alerts from Google's newer Android Earthquake Alerts System. Not all manufacturers will have set up for that out of the box, some may only be hooked into the government alert system, which was apparently slower in this case.

2

mtcwby t1_itwjmix wrote

I've got a Pixel 5a and it appeared to be Google's service that came rather than a USGS one. I was about 25 miles away and the jolt was very short So short that I wondered if we had just had a quake and looked at some hanging blind cords to see if they were swinging. They weren't but the confirmation of a quake came a couple of minutes later.

2