“EARTHQUAKE DETECTOR” FOR EACH HOUSEHOLD

Abstract

As in the past, when various so-called »healers« sold coloured water as universal medicine that cured all diseases, resourceful traders are nowadays offering relatively cheap devices that are said to “assure” early warning through the detection of pre-shock waves before destructive tremors. Pre-shock waves, however, do not exist and the so-called quake detectors are not what they pretend to be. Even in professional circles there have been people inclined to various speculative ideas: recently, information was released in the field of IT that, by transmitting data from sensors on a PC hard drive to a collection centre, the location of an earthquake can be identified. But is it true? The article describes the detection range of household earthquake detectors, their potential and the capability of shock sensors in portable computers.