People who want to know about any earthquake anywhere as soon as it happens? There’s an app for them. No, really. It’s called QuakeZones Pro, and it’s just been released for iPad.
It’s a rezzed-up version of an existing iPhone app from the same developers. It mashes up 30 years of earthquake data with Google Maps, letting fault-line fanatics swipe around the world to fill their boots with historic quakes.
Just as importantly, it uses push notifications to tell you whenever a new earthquake has been reported, so you can tap into the app and see data including location, time, magnitude, depth and – for people who worry about these things – distance from your current location.
This is pretty nerdy stuff, although the built-in YouTube feature to watch footage of old and new earthquakes may appeal more to casual users. But QuakeZones Pro is an example of how mash-ups of maps and data can find a new lease of life on iPad thanks to its larger screen.
Worth £2.99? With a whole lot of shakin’ going on – 500,000 detectable quakes a year according to the developers – some people will be happy to pay to have this information at their fingertips.
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