Your Smartwatch Will Soon Alert You Before an Earthquake

While smartphones have had the feature that alerts you during an earthquake for some time, Google has reportedly planned to roll out this feature to its smartwatches. According to a new report, Wear OS watches will soon support earthquake alerts, prompting you to take cover or rush to a safe place in such an event.

Android Authority has reported that Google is testing earthquake alerts for Wear OS smartwatches. The Google System Release Notes webpage has updated the published information to include a new ‘Safety & Emergency’ section that reads: “[Wear] You’ll get alerts on Wear when an earthquake is expected to cause shaking.” If it is not clear, ‘Wear’ refers to Wear OS, which, like Android phones, comes preloaded with the Google Play Services app. The feature, the report said, will be available as part of Google Play Services version 25.21.

Google has not confirmed or announced this change, but instances of this feature have previously been spotted in an APK teardown. Folks at Android Authority said they were able to run the feature on their test unit, revealing that earthquake alerts on Wear OS will work similarly to Android. That means you will get an alert with information about the earthquake, such as the estimated distance to the epicentre and the magnitude of jolts in your area. However, this feature may require cellular connectivity, so Wear OS smartwatches, including those from Samsung, with eSIM support, will offer earthquake alerts.

Emergencies, like an earthquake, are what tech companies have been trying to address with various features, and the arrival of earthquake alerts on Wear OS will increase its utility on devices attached to your body and be more accessible than a phone. Meanwhile, Google has expanded the earthquake alert system for Android phones, giving users a more user-friendly interface to activate the service and receive government alerts.

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