Twitter To Be Used By Governments As Earthquake Detector
By Lauren Dugan on June 3, 2011 3:25 PM
Geologists in the US and Australia are using Twitter as an earthquake and
natural disaster detector, following tweets to pinpoint the areas affected
first by these events.
This week, Geosciences Australia met at conference to discuss how to use
technology to source data on earthquakes and tsunamis.
As reported by CIO.com<http://www.cio.com/article/683378/Twitter_to_Detect_Earthquakes_Tsunamis>,
the agency's chief Andrew Barnicoat had a lot of praise for Twitter as a
potential tool for earthquake detection:
"It is effectively a crowd-to-agency system … and the tweeted reports of
having felt an earthquake [and] a social epicentre is defined by this data.
This sort if response can be faster than our traditional seismometer
networks in telling us that an earthquake is coming. The Gen Ys of this
world get on social media much faster than those earthquake waves can travel
around the world … electrons travel faster than sound waves."
He went on to say that it would likely take about 12 months before the
agency began experimenting with Twitter in a serious way.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) already uses Twitter in an experimental way,
trying to understand whether social media can trump scientific measurement
tools in alerting the public to a natural disaster. They are funding a
student<http://recovery.doi.gov/press/us-geological-survey-twitter-earthquake-detector-ted/>who
is filtering tweets by time, place and keyword to gather data on
geo-located ground shakings.
They claim that Twitter can alert government agencies and the general public
about natural disasters within seconds of their occurrence, while
traditional scientific measurements like seismology tools can take anywhere
between 2 and 20 minutes to report the data.
There are already plenty of stories of how Twitter has been used in
emergency situations, like the man who was
rescued<http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/one-mans-story-how-twitter-helped-during-the-tsunami_b4615>in
the aftermath of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami thanks to a
tweet,
and the essential communication function that Twitter performed during
the Christchurch
earthquakes<http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/twitter-christchurch-earthquake_b6882>in
New Zealand in April.
Source:
http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/twitter-to-be-used-by-governments-as-earthquake-detector_b9784
--
By Lauren Dugan on June 3, 2011 3:25 PM
Geologists in the US and Australia are using Twitter as an earthquake and
natural disaster detector, following tweets to pinpoint the areas affected
first by these events.
This week, Geosciences Australia met at conference to discuss how to use
technology to source data on earthquakes and tsunamis.
As reported by CIO.com<http://www.cio.com/article/683378/Twitter_to_Detect_Earthquakes_Tsunamis>,
the agency's chief Andrew Barnicoat had a lot of praise for Twitter as a
potential tool for earthquake detection:
"It is effectively a crowd-to-agency system … and the tweeted reports of
having felt an earthquake [and] a social epicentre is defined by this data.
This sort if response can be faster than our traditional seismometer
networks in telling us that an earthquake is coming. The Gen Ys of this
world get on social media much faster than those earthquake waves can travel
around the world … electrons travel faster than sound waves."
He went on to say that it would likely take about 12 months before the
agency began experimenting with Twitter in a serious way.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) already uses Twitter in an experimental way,
trying to understand whether social media can trump scientific measurement
tools in alerting the public to a natural disaster. They are funding a
student<http://recovery.doi.gov/press/us-geological-survey-twitter-earthquake-detector-ted/>who
is filtering tweets by time, place and keyword to gather data on
geo-located ground shakings.
They claim that Twitter can alert government agencies and the general public
about natural disasters within seconds of their occurrence, while
traditional scientific measurements like seismology tools can take anywhere
between 2 and 20 minutes to report the data.
There are already plenty of stories of how Twitter has been used in
emergency situations, like the man who was
rescued<http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/one-mans-story-how-twitter-helped-during-the-tsunami_b4615>in
the aftermath of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami thanks to a
tweet,
and the essential communication function that Twitter performed during
the Christchurch
earthquakes<http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/twitter-christchurch-earthquake_b6882>in
New Zealand in April.
Source:
http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/twitter-to-be-used-by-governments-as-earthquake-detector_b9784
--
Louis N. Molino, Sr., CET
FF/EMT-B/FSI/EMSI
Freelance Consultant/Trainer/Author/Journalist/Fire Protection Consultant
Training Program Manager, Fire and Safety Specialists, Inc.
(www.fireandsafetyspecialsits.com)
Technical Editor, Industrial Fire World
(www.fireworld.com)
LNMolino@aol.com
Lou@fireworld.com
979-690-7559 (IFW/FSS Office)
979-690-7562 (IFW/FSS Fax)
979-412-0890 (Cell Phone)
IFW/FSS Office Address:
540 Graham Road,
College Station, Texas 77845
IFW/FSS Mailing Address:
Post Office Box 9161,
College Station, Texas 77842
FF/EMT-B/FSI/EMSI
Freelance Consultant/Trainer/Author/Journalist/Fire Protection Consultant
Training Program Manager, Fire and Safety Specialists, Inc.
(www.fireandsafetyspecialsits.com)
Technical Editor, Industrial Fire World
(www.fireworld.com)
LNMolino@aol.com
Lou@fireworld.com
979-690-7559 (IFW/FSS Office)
979-690-7562 (IFW/FSS Fax)
979-412-0890 (Cell Phone)
IFW/FSS Office Address:
540 Graham Road,
College Station, Texas 77845
IFW/FSS Mailing Address:
Post Office Box 9161,
College Station, Texas 77842
__._,_.___
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