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Venezuela is devastated by a pair of earthquakes. So far 32 deaths have been reported in the incident. About 700 injured. Experts say it is the strongest earthquake of the century in the history of Latin America. But before the earthquake hit, Google had informed it. Many people are claiming that. Many people are also posting pictures of Google’s earthquake notification on the X handle.

Every modern smartphone has an accelerometer. Normally, this sensor automatically rotates the screen when you hold your smartphone in landscape mode. But it also has another use. It is capable of detecting and measuring vibrations. When a strong tremor is sensed, it sends a signal to Google’s ‘Android Earthquake Alerts System’. It also tells the approximate location of the earthquake. After that, Google sends the earthquake notification to the phone.

But how did Google know about the Venezuelan earthquake in advance? In this case, the first thing that needs to be known is that – an earthquake is not a single shake or vibration. It occurs in the form of waves. The primary wave or ‘P-wave’ is fast. Their speed is about 6 kilometers per second. Secondary waves or ‘S-waves’ are relatively weak. The speed is about 3-4 km per second. But significantly it is this ‘S-wave’ that does most of the damage.

This means – our phone is able to detect ‘P-Wave’. Only through this can it determine that an earthquake is coming. Then it quickly informs the Google server in the form of a signal. Since the signal from the phone travels at the speed of light, Google has enough time to verify it. As a result, the earthquake was reported earlier. This is how the whole process works.