Many laptops currently have a Sudden Motion
Sensors or Active
Protection Systems inside them. While these
sensors were originally designed to help protect the computer's hard disk in the
event of
an impact, seismologists can use them to detect earthquakes.
The Quake Catcher Network (QCN)
links participating laptops into a single coordinated network that can
detect and analyze earthquakes faster and better than ever before.
If you have a Macintosh laptop manufactured after January 1, 2005 then you probably do.
If you have an IBM Thinkpad manufactured after 2003, then you probably do.
Soon we may have a web-based open-source program to tell you whether your laptop has an accessible seismometer or not.
 |
Laptops connect to the Quake Catcher Network over the internet. Typically, when the QCN software is running, there isn't much need to transfer the data to our headquarters. Instead, the laptop monitors the data localy for new high-energy signals and only sends a single time and a single significance measurement for high energy signals. If our server receives a bunch of these times and significance measurements all at once, then it is likely that an earthquake is happening. If the server receives only a time and significance measurement from one laptop, then the server knows the laptop was shaken by something smaller and more local (like your sister running by, or the door slamming).
You can download software that will turn your computer into a laptop whenever it is connected to the internet and you are not using it.
Laptops continuously move with the people who use them. So how does the Quake Catcher Network know where the laptop is? Well, several ways. First, if you are nice enough to tell us the places (address or latitude and longitude) where you use your laptop most often, then it takes a lot of the guess-work out of equation. Second, your computer has an IP address that connects to the internet through a specific server. Based on your IP address and the server location, so we can determine your rough location. We can then link your IP address with the location you specify.
Every hour or so the Quake Catcher software checks to make sure your laptop's clock is synchronized with the clock here at the Quake Catcher Network. The clock here at the Quake Catcher Network is synchronized with an atomic clock, so the the whole network is always on time.
The power sometimes goes out after earthquakes because of broken power lines. If the power goes out, your laptop can run on batteries for a little while. Because your internet connection will down when the power drops, the QCN software will store the seismic data it records locally on the laptop until internet connection is restored.