I’ve lived in California all my life. While I shrug off any earthquakes below a 5.0, I know that the “Big One” is coming. That’s what they’ve been telling me all my life. The “Big One” is coming and we’re all doomed. To feed my paranoia of falling into the Pacific Ocean, Popular Mechanics has an app to track earthquakes. Awesome?
What’s it do?
Feel something moving? QuakeTracker will feed you information from the United States Geological Survey seconds after you’ve braced yourself in the door jamb in your house. The information is displayed on an interactive map where users can zoom into an earthquake for details about the shaker. The app tracks the past seven days of quakes that measure 3.25 or greater and has the top 10 quakes in the continental US since 1860.
Why do we like it?
Instead of jumping on Twitter and asking everyone if they just felt an earthquake, I can just launch the app. QuakeTracker will quickly surmise if we dodged a geological bullet or if a large truck just happened to pass by. If you live in a earthquake-prone zone, you know how important it is to track earthquakes. Recent seismic activity could point to a large quake on the horizon. No wait, that means we’re safe for now because recent quakes relieve tectonic stress. I’m going to go update my emergency kit.
The Best
Cool quake visuals
The Worst
Continental US only