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When an earthquake strikes literally every second counts. That was the case five years ago when a magnitude 9 quake unleashed a massive tsunami that devastated Japan. A seismological network kicked into action issuing early warnings, but the massive waves still killed nearly 16,000 people and caused an estimated $300 billion in damage.
当地震发生时，每一秒钟都极其重要，正如5年前一场9级大地震引发的巨大海啸曾重创日本一样。虽然地震监测网迅速发布海啸来临警告，但巨大的海啸仍然吞噬了一万六千条生命并造成约为三千亿美元的经济损失。
Since then scientists have been working to improve detection systems in the hopes of generating more accurate earthquake data and ultimately buying people a bit more time to flee a soon to be disaster zone.
从那以后，地震学家致力于改善地震检测系统，希望以此来计算出更加准确的地震监测数据，并最终为人们在灾难来临前的撤离多争取一点时间。
Now researchers are hoping to tap into new pool data. It turns out the technology in conventional seismological instrumentation exists in every smartphone on the planet.
如今地震学家正在尝试开发新的数据库，希望能将常规的地震监测工具"安装"到这个星球上的每一部智能手机里面。
"The idea is if we can harness the accelerometers in those smart phones then we can collect massive amounts of data. It could really revolutionise how we understand earthquakes and earthquake effects," said Richard Allen, the director of the Seismological Laboratory at the University California, Berkeley.
加州大学伯克利分校的地震学实验室负责人理查德·阿伦表示："如果我们能够在智能手机上安装测震仪，那么我们就能够收集大量的数据。那样将彻底重塑我们对地震及其影响的理解。"
Allen and his team have developed a smartphone app called 'MyShake' designed to monitor a phones accelerometer data and send alerts to a central server when seismic activity registers.
阿伦及其团队已经设计出一款名为"MyShake"的手机应用，可以通过手机监测地震数据并上传到服务器，一旦有地震活动出现可以立即发出警报。
He says accelerometers in phones are nowhere near as sensitive as conventional instrumentation, but what they lack in sensitivity they make up for in numbers. Real time data from phones could equate to more warning time. "So the amount of warning time we might be talking about depends of course on where you are relative to the earthquake. We are talking about seconds, tens of seconds, best case scenario is a few minutes before and earthquake, tens of minutes potentially for tsunamis," said Allen.
阿伦表示，虽然手机上的测震仪在精度上远逊于传统的测震设备，但是这可以通过数量来弥补的，大量的手机实时数据就相当于更多的预警时间。他说："我们谈论的预警时间的长短取决于你与震源地带的距离，我们说的几秒、几十秒，最好就是在地震前几分钟，以及可能引发海啸前的几十分钟。"
The smartphone data is meant to complement existing earthquake monitoring networks, according to Allen, but he adds that many of the regions most prone to deadly earthquakes and tsunami don't have reliable early warning systems. In those places, he says, this new source of data could prove to be a game changer.
据阿伦表示，采集手机数据是为了完善现存的地震预警网络，但他同时表示，由于在一些剧烈地震海啸高发区域缺少可靠的灾前预警系统，新的数据来源将扮演更加重要的角色。
The app can be downloaded the Labs website at myshake.berkeley.edu
目前，这款应用已经可以在地震实验室的官网上（myshake.berkeley.edu）下载了。
