MIUI: New earthquake warning function integrated.

According to reports from China, its upcoming release MIUI comes with a function "earthquake warning».

Η latest version of the operating system MIUI of Xiaomi is in progress. A quick look at the system from users reveals a special feature that Xiaomi is working on. According to reports from China, the upcoming version of MIUI comes with a "Earthquake warning" function.

This feature is not yet official and may need some upgrades. Earthquake Warning will use a pop-up window to send an alert to users. It will alert users when the network detects an impending earthquake, which may cause a strong "shake" of the ground. It will also locate the location that will affect the seismic wave, the epicenter and the magnitude of the earthquake. Once the countdown is complete, an emergency assistance service will be provided.

Seismic waves come in three forms, longitudinal waves, transverse waves and surface waves. The propagation speed of longitudinal waves is fast, about 5,5 km - 7 km per second, but their destructive capacity is low. The destructive capacity of the transverse wave is great, as it causes the ground to vibrate before and after the passage of the wave.

However, the speed of propagation is slow (about 4 kilometers per second). The surface wave is the slowest and can only propagate along the ground surface. This is the main cause of severe damage to the surface characteristics.

The principle of the earthquake warning system is to use the time difference from the fastest propagating waves to make predictions. Since these waves come from very deep below the surface and move very fast, the warning period is usually in seconds.

The fastest longitudinal wave and the slowest transverse wave are related. Since the constantly relatively harmless wave arrives first, the arrival time of the relevant catastrophic transverse and surface waves can be predicted quickly.

The time difference between these waves is usually very small. Theoretical studies have shown that if the warning time is 3 seconds, the risk of death can be reduced by 14%. If it is 10 seconds, the risk of death is reduced by 39%, while if the warning time is 20 seconds, the risk of death can be reduced by 63%.

Of course, predicting an earthquake is much more complicated than it seems. If Xiaomi develops such a feature, it will need more than laboratory studies to confirm its capability. However, since it deals with warning us a few seconds in advance, then the accuracy could really improve. This effort certainly seems ambitious.

Predicting the location of seismic waves, the epicenter and the magnitude is a very complicated process. However, if Xiaomi makes the start, other manufacturers may follow suit in the hope of perfecting it in the future.

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