The National Seismological Center of the University of Chile launched this Thursday an application for smartphones that will speed up the distribution of information on telluric movements, and users themselves will cooperate with the estimation of their intensity.
The “evolution” responds to the need for citizens to stay in touch with and adapt to new forms of communication, CSN explained in a statement.
Mario Pardo, deputy director of the institute, explained that the process was “lengthy” due to the multiplicity of “code and communication verification steps” that had to be undertaken. “A team made up of the communications and innovation areas of the CSN worked on it in collaboration with Senapred”, National Disaster Prevention and Response Service: ex Onemi.
Already available for both Android and iOS operating systems, “Having this app will enable users to be instantly informed about seismic data published by CSN. In addition, they will be able to contribute their perception of earthquakes in graphic form. modified Mercalli’s scale”, Pardo explained.
National Seismological Center @Sismos_UCHILE Launched app for reporting seismic data instantly on smartphones, a system that will also allow users to report their observations pic.twitter.com/49UoLNJ3Bn
– University of Chile (@uchile) April 27, 2023
“I felt the earthquake”
The app will not only repeat the information that is publicly distributed daily on the Seismologia.cl site.
By clicking the “I felt an earthquake” button, following an image guide, citizens will be able to estimate the intensity using the Mercalli scale, which describes the effects of a certain telluric movement: for example, ” Hanging objects oscillate”, or there is “difficulty standing”.
In this way, users will be able to help CSN experts identify the intensity of movement, as the app, through the geolocation system, will be able to obtain valuable information about the user’s location at the time of the report and, thus , increase the observations associated with earthquakes”, highlighted Professor Pardo.
