Yurekuru Call for iPhone is a push notification app created by RC Solution Co., and a most timely app it is, if you’re living in Japan and can read Japanese. With aftershocks – some of them quite large – rocking the nation pretty much daily, a little early warning could make a really big difference.
The app provides users with two vital pieces of information along with an audible warning tone: (1) the estimated intensity of the quake according to the Japanese 7-stage seismic scale, and (2) an estimate of how long before the tremor arrives at the location where you registered the app. You can also review records of the time, magnitude and location for the last 10 earthquakes records.
While TV and radio news report such information, the app is more finely tuned to the user’s specific location. Also, people take their iPhone, iPod touch and iPad with them to places where the TV or radio aren’t accessible.
Major earthquakes like the Great East Japan Earthquake which struck on March 11, 2011 often beget aftershocks for weeks, months, or even years after the initial quake. Picking up the pieces of daily life in Japan is hard enough without having to deal with near-constant anxiety caused by unrelenting aftershocks. Yurekuru Call for iPhone offers those living in Japan some measure of comfort: no need to be shocked by a small aftershock.
Yurekuru Call for iPhone is compatible with Apple’s iPhone, iPod touch and iPad though it does require iOS 3.0 or later. The app works with the Earthquake Early Warning system for advanced users, delivered by the Japan Meteorological Agency. (via Calvin Chun-yu Chan)
