There's (Nearly) an App for That

Incredible:

Early Warning Labs, a California-based startup, has teamed up with the U.S. Geological Survey to develop an earthquake early warning system called QuakeAlert over the next 3 years. The system, based on cloud technology, includes a smartphone app and and in-home alarms that will notify users moments before the shaking occurs in their location, and warn them how intense it will be.

The company explains that a network of seismic sensors detects the first energy to emerge from a quake before the ground shaking begins; then QuakeAlert can use that data to warn those in the affected area before they feel the impact.

Every second counts.