A new smartphone app functions as an earthquake warning system by detecting the quakes and turning the handset into a mini seismic station. The MyShake Android app developed by the University of California at Berkley (UCB) uses the phone's motion sensors to pick up signs of tremors and then synthesizes it with data from other users of the application.

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Current early-warning systems can alert people in an area a few minutes before earthquakes hit. However, they cannot help to prevent large-scale death and damage.

After installing MyShake users can detect earthquakes by simply keeping their phones on. It can become a life-saving tool when there are few seismic stations to trigger mobile alerts through traditional apps, according to Engadget.

The quake-detecting software uses the same tech mobile gamers rely on to identify their phones' orientation.  It is known as an accelerometer.

Richard Allen is the app project's leader. He explained that MyShake is unable to replace standard seismic networks. However, his team thinks it can make early warnings quicker and more accurate in areas with traditional seismic networks. It could also save lives in countries that lack those networks.

Smartphones can only record magnitude 5 quakes or higher within 6.2 miles (10 kilometers). Meanwhile, 300 smartphones with MyShake installed within a 68-mile (110-km) square area could estimate an earthquake's location, magnitude, and start time, according to Stuff.   

MyShake is still a work in progress. In the future it could send quake warnings to close areas and launch a countdown to help users such as those near the San Andreas Fault get to a safe place.

The new tremor-detecting app is more effective when a large number of people in an area are using it. However, it becomes a very helpful tool as more people install it on their phones.

That could happen based on the 2015 Ericsson Mobility Report. It noted that there are about 3.4 billion global smartphone subscriptions.

MyShake is now only available for Android smartphones. However, UCB is planning to roll out an iOS version of the app.

The world's largest recorded earthquake was a 9.5 magnitude quake. It struck Chile on May 22, 1960.

Here's how an accelerometer works: