The death toll from the double earthquake that struck Venezuela has risen to 920, with the state of La Guaira — the hardest hit — now “completely militarized,” according to the president of the country’s National Assembly. International rescue teams have begun arriving in the country to assist with search and recovery efforts amid what has become one of the deadliest seismic events in recent Latin American history.
In a striking technological footnote, many Venezuelans reported receiving earthquake alerts on their smartphones moments before the tremors struck. Google’s Android system, which leverages the accelerometers built into billions of smartphones worldwide, was able to detect seismic activity and push warnings to users. Apple’s iOS also offers the ability to display official emergency alerts. The system works because the same motion sensor that rotates a phone’s screen orientation can also detect the vibrations characteristic of an earthquake — effectively turning every smartphone into a miniature seismograph.
The disaster has prompted a massive humanitarian response, though the full scale of destruction is still being assessed.
