you can detect earthquake with your phone?

Almost all smartphone users know that all smartphones now a days are coming with a lot of sensors in them. Even the most cheap android smartphone has Accelerometer which is used for Auto-rotate. I was surfing the web news and found a really great tool which can graph the movement of your phone or tablet.

Then I read a post which says that you can use your phone as a basic seismometer. Don’t expect professional level results from your phone. So let’s get to it.

How to use your phone as earthquake detector.

Here is a web-page which is written is simple java-script and works on every modern day smartphone. Just open the link and it will start making a graph of the movement of your phone. Ofcourse you can manipulate the output by shaking your phone. Even if I open the link in my laptop, Which doesn’t have any accelerometer in it, The graph is moving a little.

So, If you thought that you can actually use your phone as a professional seismometer, you are a genius. This is what I am going to show you now. Just open the link given above, and place your phone on a flat surface like a table or ground.

If you see a lot of movement in the graph, either the earth is shaking or your phone’s sensor is faulty. 

I will again mention that you should not use it as a reliable seismometer. But there is something which is better then nothing.