[piazz]

Felt it all the way in Tokyo!

There is this amazing app called NERV that, whenever there is a large earthquake anywhere in Japan, sends you an early warning push notification and an animated display with shockwaves emanating from the epicenter, plus a countdown timer for the first wave hitting you. The first it went off for me it felt like something out of sci-fi. I think I got 45 seconds this time before my apartment started shaking.

https://nerv.app/en/

[konart]

>NERV

Does it play appropriate Evangelion OST track depending on magnitude though?

[roer]

It is straight up the same NERV, so it might.

From the site:

> The name and logo of "NERV" are used with the explicit permission of khara Inc., the copyright holder of the "Evangelion" series, and Groundworks Corporation, which manages the rights to the series.

[azath92]

This is just the best. A very serious company, doing seriously cool and important stuff, also has an anime name/icon.

I wish more corps took themselves so lightly, while remaining serious about what they do.

[mghackerlady]

For people unfamiliar wanting an easier comparison, Evangelion is Japans star wars. It'd be like learning of tornadoes from someone with Empire insignia

[chimeracoder]

> Evangelion is Japans star wars

Which is funny to say because Star Wars is actually the Western version of samurai movies (especially but not exclusively Akira Kurosawa's Hidden Fortress).

That's the movie that Lucas is pretty open about heavily drawing "inspiration" from (all the way down to specific characters and plot beats) but Hidden Fortress is itself part of a larger genre of similar stories.

[red-iron-pine]

probably closer to the 90's Batman: The Animated Series

ostensibly a kids show, but wayyyy darker and which has had a huge impact on later fandoms

[mghackerlady]

I don't know how anyone could get the impression evangelion is a kids show, unless you consider all animation as "for kids"

[zdw]

Eh, Gundam is Japan's Star Wars. Released about the same timeframe (late 70's), tons of sequels and spinoffs, etc.

Evangelion is what happens when someone does a very successful riffs on the genre that Gundam is the most prolific example of.

[anthk]

More like Dragon Ball, which was half-inspired by Journey to the West, Superman, T2 and whatnot.

[mghackerlady]

wouldn't it be more accurate to say its their star trek? admittedly not a gundam fan but I don't see it talked about or merchandised nearly as often as evangelion.

[Der_Einzige]

Evangelion is so mega overrated of an anime im experiencing second hand embarrassment on behalf of Japan for letting its national personaification be exlempified by shinji.

[mghackerlady]

it is a masterpiece, up there with ghost in the shell, akira, and serial experiments lain in terms of "japanese existentialist scifi"

[jollyllama]

"When it comes to the safety of this planet, it's NERV or nothin'." - ReDeath fan dub

[mikestorrent]

There's nothing more overrated than a comment saying a great thing is overrated

[cpburns2009]

It's an unpopular opinion for sure. Evangelion had great potential, a mysterious world, but it never reached it. I kept waiting for it to get good and then it just abruptly ended. I couldn't stand Shinji either. His situational paralysis was so frustrating. If he'd been a coward it would at least be understandable. But no, he sits there frozen half the show.

[bombcar]

Sadly we're stuck with companies naming themselves things like "Melchior" and "Palpatine" and somehow it's a good thing?

Anyway I need to get back to working on the Torment Nexus.

[jollyllama]

I'm starting to like the honesty.

[renewiltord]

I think that’s pretty much the same. NERV uses child soldiers and is secretly planning a fused hivemind. They are the Torment Nexus.

[kyusan0]

That's true, but I think the difference lies in the fact that the company using the NERV name for their product is a public disadter alert service, and doesn't seek to do or emulate anything it's named after.

That's not the same for a surveillance company or a defence contractor named after the big bad of a media franchise.

[ricardobayes]

A private organization delivering critical infrastructure and emergency services. Just no. Not even if it has a cutesy anime external shell. It always ends up being a race to the bottom by the nature of it.

[Aboutplants]

45 seconds is an incredible accomplishment. That’s a decent amount of heads up to get safer place. Obviously nerve wracking but great progress in alerts

[procflora]

Earthquake early warning systems are a top 10 peak human achievement in my book. No joke, I tear up watching videos of Japan's EEW system alerting people of possible danger just in time.

There are streamers who's whole thing is watching these alerts and setting up bobbleheads and glasses of water and stuff to show the shaking. It's so so so cool. Look at what we can do for each other you guys :')

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imH-ZyXwX5Q

[Tade0]

This clip always gets me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUamLkVCtLg

[petterroea]

It sounds impressive but it's worth considering that this was a large quake that was felt by basically half of the country. You do not get this much warning if you are anywhere near where damage happens.

The 45 seconds is better thought of as the time it takes for the quake to propagate to Tokyo

[fc417fc802]

TBF you don't need substantial structural damage for falling objects to pose a serious hazard. Plus the relationship of warning length to extent of damage depends entirely on the strength of the earthquake. For the worst ones where you need it the most the majority of the country could get a fair bit of warning.

[strangegecko]

Yeah. That's leagues better than what I get in Taiwan. The alert often arrives when the building is shaking or even after. I've never had a meaningful headstart.

[philistine]

It would seem the forewarning depends a lot on the distance from the epicentre. This quake, for Tokyoites, was far enough from them that they could beat the earthquake's speed. I'm fairly certain the people on the East Coast near the quake got no notification ahead of the event.

[wat10000]

I was in a chat with people in NYC when it hit. They got advance notice, although it was just “why is everything shaking?” Followed by me going silent for a bit, so they didn’t know what was going on until it reached them.

[prerok]

Sorry? I don't get it. Why are you mentioning NYC? Was it a joke?

[wat10000]

When the 2011 earthquake happened, those particular folks in NYC got a cryptic notice from me shortly before the shaking reached them.

[sampullman]

I usually get it a few seconds ahead of time at least, in Taipei. I figured it's more related to the proximity than anything else.

[swang]

An Earthquake happened in SF recently where I got a push notification from Apple/iOS and I felt it maybe 5-10 seconds later. Nothing fancy though just a notification. I'm guessing it's not on for Japan? Seems like this app shows way more.

[klausa]

For big enough quakes you get notification from the government (a VERY loud and specific one too, being in public and hearing _everyones_ phones suddenly go off is... mildly terrifying) too; but they're so frequent and (usually) non-super-threatening that they don't get sent out for _every_ quake.

[prism56]

I thought Google had leveraged on device accelerometers in a crowdsourced way to highlight and show alert anyone who will get a "rumble" soon.

[numpad0]

All phones with 4G/5G worldwide should have it. They managed to make the broadcast push SMS thing used for the alerts a mandatory requirement for phones.

The broadcast warning from Japanese equivalent of NOAA don't get issued to areas where the peak acceleration is expected to be less than Shindo 4 level. So GP probably had 3 or less.

Shindo is peak and Magnitude is an integral, so these two can be wildly apart, and Shindo is more commonly used in Japan since buildings tend to be more resistant to longer events with lower peak intensity.

[rconti]

"not on for japan?" Are you expecting to have gotten a notification in SF for an earthquake in a place a 12 hour flight away? That sounds like annoyance, not a feature.

We also have the MyShake app here in CA, but I don't recall getting a notification through it for the last quake. I was asleep, though, so my memory is hazy.

[harrall]

There’s 100-300 earthquakes/week in California so MyShake prefers to only warn for the bigger ones.

[spike021]

you can actually customize how strong a quake you're notified for. but ymmv. the recent california quake was actually the first time that app even notified me.

[swang]

I was asking if this feature is turned on in iOS for Japan residents for earthquakes in Japan.

[rconti]

Ah, that specific push notification would have been via the FCC's Emergency Alert System (EAS) I believe.

https://www.fcc.gov/emergency-alert-system

But it sounds like Japan's system also sends push notifications which is why I was unclear about what you felt was different/missing. I think the specific tone sound we get from EAS is distinct.

[Tor3]

I didn't feel a thing a bit south of Nagoya. Almost strange that there was nothing here, when you got shaking in Tokyo.

[kzrdude]

How do you use your 45 seconds?

[cloudbonsai]

> How do you use your 45 seconds?

There is actually a clear, concise and actionable answer to this question:

- Hide under the nearest table or desk (if you are at home or in the office).

- Grab the nearest pole or handrail (if you are on a train).

The basic idea is that the most common cause of death in an earthquake is being crushed by falling objects, so you should use every second to minimize the risk.

Here are a few common mistakes:

- Do not attempt to stop furniture from falling (you'll get crushed by it)

- Do not try to run outside (you'll get hurt by falling walls)

- Do not try to turn off the gas (most systems have automatic shutoffs)

- And for Catfish's sake, do not use your precious 45 seconds to open the social media.

[klempner]

At 45 seconds, load up social media. (although I actually missed the warnings this time, was focused on work) At least assuming the number is only 7.x.

If it were 8+ or somewhat closer, I'd get under my desk. (then pull up social media on my phone)

[fennecbutt]

Standing underneath a doorframe is also advisable.

[strangegecko]

I'm pretty sure that is advice from the last millennium that is no longer taught.

[fragmede]

Specifically, the two reasons that it's no longer taught is that 1) rushing to get under a doorframe caused accidents 2) doorframes are no longer reinforced the way they used to be.

[fennecbutt]

I suppose it must be dependent on country.

I'm a kiwi and that's what I was taught. We're also ring of fire dwellers.

[teiferer]

How does loading up on social media help?

Maybe turn off any gas stove, secure any dangerous tools, stop your car, that kind of thing.

[pezezin]

Modern gas stoves have security sensors to turn down themselves. I had to reset my water boiler when I got home.

[klempner]

It's not that social media helps, it's that there's not really more to do. It's just another day on the ring of fire.

In practice for anything short of the very biggest earthquakes, if you're close enough for the earthquake to truly be a big deal you're only getting a few seconds of warning. It's not a task list, it's stop doing the immediate dangerous thing you might be doing and grab immediate cover.

[piazz]

If it's a big one and it's near you, you'd move away from the windows and heavy things that can fall, I suppose?

For me I always just turn on iPhone screen recording and marvel at this amazing app and wish we had something like this in California.

[vladgur]

We do - gave me a few second warning of a 4-point one a month or so ago

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/myshake-earthquake-alerts/id14...

[gosub100]

Stop any trains. Open elevators at nearest floor.

[fragmede]

Stop all surgeries if that is a thing you do. Stop doing any delicate hygiene routines if you happen to be in the middle of one.

[teiferer]

Quite clear that people here work in low risk jobs. Anybody working with heavy machinery, drills, saws, knives, etc will immediately know how to use those 45 seconsa well. Those trades that don't typically let you read HN all day.

[nilslindemann]

https://i.imgur.com/WJ0NM1J.png

[Danox]

If you are in a precarious position at the time 45 seconds can make all the difference a California resident.

[bell-cot]

> Felt it all the way in Tokyo!

How many stories above the ground, and might you guess at your building's construction (wood frame, steel frame, etc.) and foundations (on bedrock, on loose sediments, etc.)?

[Xenoamorphous]

Receiving one of those sounds really scary.

[ricardobayes]

Hmm, why does this needs to be an app and not the built-in alert notification system? Outsourcing critical infrastructure and emergency services to private parties is always a terrible idea.

[klausa]

There's things built into iOS and Android and the government does send them; but not for _every_ quake, only for the bigger ones, and if you're close to epicenter.

This wasn't big enough in Tokyo to send out one.

[pamcake]

> Outsourcing critical infrastructure and emergency services to private parties is always a terrible idea.

That would include Apple and Google.

[jandrewrogers]

In many countries the authority and capability to send alerts is relatively decentralized and/or they require people to be inserted in the decision loop. Things are this way for policy and jurisdictional reasons. To change it you'd need to redesign the bureaucracy and authority, including many parts that have nothing to do with emergency services. Those changes are not going to happen.

Under these constraints it is effectively impossible to send automated alerts at scale with low latency as demonstrated here. A private app does not operate under such constraints.

[pezezin]

It is built-in, broadcasted by the cell network itself:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_Broadcast

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Alerting_Protocol

[spike021]

In California I was recently alerted to a quake both by iOS (government issued alert) and the MyShakes app.

For major quakes I think over communication is probably warranted.