Emergency notification systems have always been in place, but as people turn away from the radio and television, there’s been an ever increasing need for including these types of systems in cellphones.
The sleuths over at MacRumors had previously found references to Quake Alerts in iOS 5, but had very little idea why it was being included. According to 9to5Mac, based on info received from a tipster, the earthquake warning is aimed at Japanese iPhone users. The application connects to the Japanese earthquake system, and notifies users when a quake takes place, in an attempt to hopefully prevent injury.
The question remains: how many more countries will have access to the quake alerts? And more importantly, will Apple begin to roll out the technology as a general emergency reporting system? Could users in tornado alley eventually get alerts on their phones? What about states and provinces susceptible to flash flooding, or hurricanes?
It’s going to happen sooner rather than later, and hopefully we’ll eventually see the system rolled out on a larger scale. A lot of communities could use this sort of system, both on the iPhone and other smartphones.
