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.当地如雷再次发生时，每一秒钟都极其重要，正如5年前一场9级大地震引起的极大海啸曾重创日本一样。虽然地震监测网很快公布海啸到来警告，但极大的海啸依然毁灭了一万六千条生命并导致大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，地震学家致力于提高地震检测系统，期望以此来计算出来出有更为精确的地震监测数据，并最后为人们在灾难到来前的撤走多谋求一点时间。

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研发新的数据库，期望能将常规的地震监测工具加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·阿伦回应：如果我们需要在智能手机上加装测震仪，那么我们就需要搜集大量的数据。

那样将完全重塑我们对地震及其影响的解读。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.阿伦及其团队早已设计出有一款取名为MyShake的手机应用于，可以通过手机监测地震数据并上传遍服务器，一旦有地震活动经常出现可以立刻收到警报。

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.阿伦回应，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填补的，大量的手机动态数据就相等于更好的预警时间。他说道：我们谈论的预警时间的长短各不相同你与震源地带的距离，我们说道的几秒、几十秒，最差就是在地震前几分钟，以及有可能引起海啸前的几十分钟。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 dont have reliable early warning systems. In those places, he says, this new source of data could prove to be a game changer.据阿伦回应，收集手机数据是为了完备现存的地震预警网络，但他同时回应，由于在一些轻微地震海啸高发区域缺乏可信的灾前预警系统，新的数据来源将扮演着更为最重要的角色。The app can be downloaded the Labs website at myshake.berkeley.edu目前，这款应用于早已可以在地震实验室的官网上（myshake.berkeley.edu）iTunes了。

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