Earthquake
early warning
for everyone.
Together, we can
protect each other.
Your phone can detect earthquakes with Seismos' ML-powered algorithm. Phones closest to the epicenter will sense the earthquake first. We process the seismic data faster than the earthquake spreads and send alerts to anyone within reach of it. This gives you time to get to cover and allows organizations to activate safety procedures, like shutting off gas valves.
Traditional earthquake early warning (EEW) systems are prohibitively expensive for many nations. At the time of Seismos' founding (2018), there were only 3 countries in the world that had successfully deployed a nationwide system and were actively delivering earthquake alerts to their citizens: Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea. In 2022 Israel brought their EEW system online and in 2024 China completed theirs (Green).
A handful of other countries have systems that either provide only partial coverage, don't provide public alerting, or are still in the development phase (Yellow).
In contrast, Seismos can detect earthquakes and deliver alerts via smartphones anywhere in the world. No additional sensors or costly maintenance required!
How the Seismos Network functions
Step 1
Our extremely lightweight neural network processes seismic data from the phone's accelerometer directly on device. It only uploads shaking data when it detects an earthquake.
Seismos aggregates all the incoming information and calculates exactly where the earthquake originated, how strong it is, who will be affected, and when it will reach them.
Step 2
We send you an alert with a countdown to when the earthquake will hit. This will give you enough time to Drop, Cover, and Hold On, stop your vehicle, or even get to a safe place with sufficient lead time. We also automatically notify your emergency contacts.
Organizations can integrate our alerts into automated safety protocols via the Seismos API.
Step 3
After the shaking stops, we keep you updated with the latest information on the earthquake and any public safety advisories.
You can mark yourself safe on our live earthquake map with a single button press to quickly inform your friends and family. Pressing NO sends your last known location to them, and initiates an emergency call.
Features
- Get a feel for how strong the shaking has to be for earthquake alerts to be issued by Seismos or your local government warning system (e.g. ShakeAlert by USGS).
- Stay updated on the most recent significant earthquakes around the world.
- Browse a curated, earthquake-specific news feed.
- See all recent earthquakes on the world map and get detailed information about them.
- Check on friends that were hit by an earthquake and marked themselves safe or not. Locations are only shared in the event of an earthquake.
- Verify whether you are in the coverage area for Seismos alerts or your local government warning system.
- Choose to receive alerts by local providers (e.g. ShakeAlert by USGS) in addition to Seismos alerts.
- Receive reminders to review your emergency plans, refresh your emergency kits, and practice emergency drills.
- Set up custom alerts for global earthquakes above a certain magnitude threshold or for specific locations.
- Connect with friends and family on Seismos to receive notifications and see their location if they are hit by an earthquake, and vise-versa.
- You can also add external emergency contacts that will receive notifications via text or email.
- Learn about plate tectonics and earthquakes, how and where they occur, and what makes them so dangerous.
- Prepare with checklists, emergency kit recommendations, guidance on securing your home, and practice earthquake drills.
- Learn what to do after an earthquake: how to stay safe after the initial shaking, apply basic first aid, locate emergency shelters, and coordinate volunteer response efforts.
About
We founded Seismos in 2018 with the explicit goal of making life-saving earthquake early warning alerts accessible to as many people as possible. Without formal education in the field, we taught ourselves seismology and machine learning from the ground up. As a bootstrapped startup, we relocated to Vietnam to minimize our operating expenses and stretch our financial runway by 4x. After a year, we moved to Seattle with a functioning prototype to work more closely with researchers at CWU's PANGA Lab, and to fundraise. The Seismos app was also slated to serve as distribution vehicle for the U.S. Geological Survey's ShakeAlert earthquake warnings in Washington State, Oregon, and California.
