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Early Earthquake Warning System in iOS 5 for Japanese Users

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MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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Back in iOS 5 Beta 2, we had seen references to a "Quake Alert" notification embedded in iOS 5, as shown here:

quake.jpg



We weren't able to entirely explain or even activate the system, but despite the presence of english localization, it's reportedly intended for Japanese users according to 9to5Mac.

quakewarning-500x195.png



Japan's earthquake warning system was profiled by Time magazine earlier this year.
Japan has the most advanced earthquake early-warning system in the world. A nationwide online system launched in 2007, it detects tremors, calculates an earthquake's epicenter and sends out brief warnings from its 1,000-plus seismographs scattered throughout the country, one of the most earthquake-prone nations on the planet.
Click to expand...
The need for such a warning system was underscored by the devastating 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunamis Japan experienced earlier this year. iOS 5 users reportedly have the option to receive these early warnings in iOS 5 at the very bottom of the iOS 5 Notification Center settings pane. We were unable to activate the system from a U.S. based iPhone. The system is reported to be a common feature on Japanese mobile phones.


Article Link: Early Earthquake Warning System in iOS 5 for Japanese Users
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2011/08/21/early-earthquake-warning-system-in-ios-5-for-japanese-users/
Last edited by a moderator:
Rayfire

Rayfire

macrumors 68030
Aug 25, 2008
2,579
148
PNW
This is really a big help for them! Especially that some of us might have family, friends or acquaintances living there. Regardless, kudos to a great addition in iOS 5!
 
Slix

Slix

macrumors 65816
Mar 24, 2010
1,441
1,989
This is really useful! Safety is always a priority.

If only iOS 5 could tell if you're driving and turn the phone off. ;)
 
C

Clark Kent

macrumors member
Mar 31, 2009
75
0
My wife's Docomo cell phone has the earthquake warning system built in. Anywhere between 5 and 20 seconds before the shaking starts, it will start to emit a really loud James Bond-esqe alarm that gets your heart rate pumping.

Regular Softbank phones have the same thing (all Japanese cell phone carriers offer it in their system) but the iPhone only has work-arounds to access it via apps.

It will be great to have it built into the OS.

Good work Apple.
 
doug in albq

doug in albq

Suspended
Oct 12, 2007
1,449
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Quake happened the same day as iPad 2 was released...

(not that this means anything)


EDIT: might want to try and include this in English for those sitting right on top of the San Andreas Fault, like all the folks in Cupertino!
 
N

neier

macrumors member
Apr 23, 2003
43
0
Japan
Improvements!

There's an app already ("yurekuru", which translates to "shaking coming"), but, I think it relies on a reflector of some sort from the main nationwide notification system. So, it's often delayed by several seconds, and nicknamed "yurekita" (shaking already came :rolleyes:) by a lot of people.

It's good to see that the next iOS will be more fully integrated with the warning system.
 
bradl

bradl

macrumors 603
Jun 16, 2008
5,926
17,405
I can see this being big for everyone around the Ring of Fire, let alone the midwest USA.

Ring of Fire is a given.. But I know of a few faultlines around Nebraska, Missouri, and Kansas that are long overdue for going off, outside of the tremors that had been happening there over the past few years.

If they could add in something for volcanos, that owuld help everyone in both Atlantic and Pacific.

BL.
 
Demosthenes X

Demosthenes X

macrumors 68000
Oct 21, 2008
1,954
5
"Receiving Quake Alerts may incur data charges and affect your battery life".

...and may save your life.
 
Mr Fusion

Mr Fusion

macrumors 6502a
May 7, 2007
841
1,061
Why Just Japan? They're the only ones with this system...

... that I know of. Anyone else know of a similar system in a different country?

Apple would probably gladly offer this service to any country, but the country needs such an early warning system in place.

:)
 
C

Clark Kent

macrumors member
Mar 31, 2009
75
0
It's only in Japan because Japan has actually built the infrastructure required by putting thousands of seismographs around the country to detect early seismic waves (P-waves) that come before the main shaking (S-waves).

Until other countries install the sensors, they can't have a useful earthquake early-warning system.
 
SaSaSushi

SaSaSushi

macrumors 601
Aug 8, 2007
4,156
553
Takamatsu, Japan
I'd never heard the "YureKITA" thing about Yurekuru, although I live in western Japan where the seismic activity has been much less frequent. Yurekuru has always pretty accurately predicted earthquakes here before they occur and at the appropriate magnitude.

Still, I am very excited that this may be built into iOS 5.
 
I

Ihatefall

macrumors regular
Jun 30, 2010
156
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Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

Mr Fusion said:
... that I know of. Anyone else know of a similar system in a different country?

Apple would probably gladly offer this service to any country, but the country needs such an early warning system in place.

:)
Click to expand...

Exactly! Seriously no one is more prepared for earthquakes than the Japanese. No one! Within two weeks of me moving there, the city hall made me go to tsunami/ earthquake training. The school kids I was teaching had drills several times a year. I always thought it was overkill until 3/11/11.
This feature works because the government installed such a system. Write your congress man if you want it in the bay area or elsewhere.
 
WardC

WardC

macrumors 68030
Oct 17, 2007
2,727
215
Fort Worth, TX
It's not just Japan, all those iPhone users out in California and on the West Coast need a feature like this!!! Is Apple not aware that a 7.0+ Magnitude Earthquake is way overdue for both the LA and SF bay areas? Get your act together Apple!

Edit: Not to be harsh, because I realize that an early warning system (like that in Japan) might not exist for USA, they only know of quakes after they are reported to USGS:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/quakes_all.php

By the way, there was an Earthquake today in the LA area, albeit only a 2.5
 
O

ozoneboy

macrumors newbie
Aug 21, 2011
1
0
Mr Fusion said:
... that I know of. Anyone else know of a similar system in a different country?

Apple would probably gladly offer this service to any country, but the country needs such an early warning system in place.

:)
Click to expand...

I remember reading that they installed a similar system here in Christchurch, New Zealand to warn the rescuers when an aftershock was coming (from the Sept 2010, Feb 2011 quakes) so they could move away from any rubble/buildings that might fall on them.

Both the devastating 7.1 and 6.3 quakes here, and thousands of aftershocks, have all been centered so close and shallow that any warning device would only give you a few seconds to react if you're lucky. Sure you would get plenty of warning for one that's much further away, but then they are unlikely to be very destructive.

Having said that, any warning is better than none.
 
A

apolloa

Suspended
Oct 21, 2008
12,318
7,802
Time, because it rules EVERYTHING!
This is a pretty cool and obviously beneficial system.

As to America following suite then I guess you are all going to have to write to your congress men to request it's put in place? As I guess government would have to approve the idea and system? i think?

But it is a bit daft for the America's to not have something similar considering the fault lines and history as we still can't predict earthquakes.
 
A

addicted44

macrumors 6502a
Jun 6, 2005
533
168
doug in albq said:
Sunday's usually are.

On topic: dear USA, get up to speed with your earth movement preparations...
Click to expand...

Well, since the USA is the one creating the earthquakes in the first place with HAARP, it would kinda defeat the purpose if they warned people about it...

/Sarcasm
 
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