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Android Phones Give Early Quake Alerts; Japan Boosts Tsunami Speed

6/28/2026

Summary

Story summary

Android phones detected P-waves, sent data to Google, and issued alerts seconds before the 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude quakes struck Venezuela on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning.
The Android alert system now reaches over 2.5 billion users and issues about 60 warnings each month, up from 250 million in 2020.
Japan’s Seafloor Observation Network for Earthquakes and Tsunamis adds roughly 20 seconds to quake warnings and speeds tsunami alerts by up to 20 minutes.

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Story summary

Android phones detected P-waves, sent data to Google, and issued alerts seconds before the 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude quakes struck Venezuela on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning.
The Android alert system now reaches over 2.5 billion users and issues about 60 warnings each month, up from 250 million in 2020.
Japan’s Seafloor Observation Network for Earthquakes and Tsunamis adds roughly 20 seconds to quake warnings and speeds tsunami alerts by up to 20 minutes.