Google-run Android Earthquake Alerts System is now providing warnings

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Back in August, Google announced that it would turn your Android phone into a seismometer to form the “world’s largest earthquake detection network.” The Android Earthquake Alerts System will now start sending warning notifications in Greece and New Zealand. 

Establishing a ground network of seismometers, like in California, is not always possible. Google’s solution is to use the accelerometer on your Android phone to detect the initial P-wave generated by earthquakes. Your device sends a general, city-level location — which does not include zip codes or street addresses — to Google’s earthquake detection server.

The company then verifies before sending a loud notification that includes location and magnitude before the destructive S-wave hits. It can take over your lockscreen and provide instructions to drop, cover, and hold. The red and black page notes how the warning was generated from the “Android Earthquake Alerts System” and provides the option to “Silence this alert.”

That warning screen is the same one used for notifications powered by the USGS ShakeAlert system that launched in California last year, recently expanded to Android users in Oregon, and is set to roll out in Washington this May. Of course, the big difference is how Google is responsible for detecting an earthquake and alerting people. The company previously shared what the system “sees” during a live quake 

[MangoTango]

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[Members_DXpgAmL]

I get the notifications on my phone but I get the default notification sound rather than the sound in the demo. I therefore assume it is just a message coming through. I have tried changing the notification to something more distinctive but will have to wait until the next earthquake to test it. Is there any way to just get the sound used in the demo? I can't see where this can be selected.