Laptops as Earthquake Sensors

Earthquake researchers in California will use the motion sensors built into laptops to provide an earthquake-sensing network that will collect information on major quakes and possibly provide an early warning system. The Quake Catcher Network is beta testing a distributed computing network of several hundred laptops. Initially, the network will focus on the quake-prone San Francisco Bay and Greater Los Angeles Basin areas of California. Stanford earthquake seismologist and project participant Jesse Lawrence says the goal is not to predict earthquakes, but to measure them very quickly and get the information out before any damage is done. California already has hundreds of sophisticated seismometers placed throughout the state, but they are spaced relatively far apart. Read More