How to receive earthquake alerts on your smartphone

The Chronify

November 24, 2025

Although early warnings are possible for many natural disasters, it is not currently possible to predict earthquakes in advance. However, some technology-based systems can send alerts to users as soon as tremors begin on the surface. Among these, Google’s Earthquake Alert system is the most popular, along with several other apps.

Google Earthquake Alert System

In 2020, Google launched this system to quickly alert Android users during earthquakes. The small accelerometer sensor in smartphones detects tremors on the surface and sends the information to Google’s servers, which then send alerts to nearby users.

Google’s Earthquake Alert system provides information about the earthquake’s source, magnitude, and nearby locations, along with advice on staying safe.

To enable alerts on an Android phone:

Go to Settings on your phone
Enter the Safety and Emergency option
Select Earthquake Alerts and turn it on

My Earthquake Alerts

Popular with over 10 million Android users worldwide, this app is an earthquake monitoring tool that provides real-time tremor information, records of past earthquakes, and other details.

The app can be downloaded and used for free from [this link]. Its iOS version is also available [here].

MyShake App

Developed by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, the MyShake app uses smartphone sensors to detect earthquakes in real time and alert users. It also allows citizens to contribute data, which is useful for scientific research.

MyShake is now a trusted platform used by around one million people and can be downloaded for free. The app is available [here].