New fiber-optic system detects 79% of bigger quakes, outperforms ShakeAlert
A brand-new earthquake warning technique is leaving the ShakeAlert tech in the dust.
While ShakeAlert only gets it right about 30% of the time, this new approach uses fiber-optic cables (yep, the ones that bring you internet) to spot earthquakes more accurately.
In tests up in Humboldt County, California, it picked up 79% of bigger quakes within just four seconds, way ahead of what we've seen before.
Fiber-optic cables become quake sensors
Distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) basically turns regular internet cables into a massive network of quake sensors, making it easier to monitor remote or even underwater areas where traditional systems struggle.
By training machine learning models on years of seismic data and running them through these cables near the San Andreas Fault, researchers got fast and reliable alerts.
Experts say expanding broadband for DAS could boost both earthquake safety and rural internet access, a major leap for keeping communities safer and better connected.