by The sleep of thousands of Colombians was interrupted in the early hours of this Friday, March 10, due to a strong earthquake that shook several areas of the country. According to the report of the geological service of Colombia, the earthquake had a magnitude of 5.9, depth of 151 kilometers and its epicenter was in the municipality of Los Santos, Santander.
Thanks to the reactions of users of social networks, it was learned that the telluric movement was felt in various areas of the country such as Santander, Caldas, Cundinamarca and certain areas of Valle de Cauca.
In fact, several inhabitants of Colombia also indicated that Google’s earthquake alert system sent a notification to their Android phoneswhich was activated moments before the tremor occurred.
This Android earthquake alert system is a free service that Google offers that works worldwide and whose main objective is to help users to react in time to a tremor, earthquake, possible flood or other type of situation that represents a danger to people. But since it is a function that operates in cases of emergency, it is a tool that is activated automatically.
However, it is worth noting that this alert system is an exclusive feature for phones that use the Android operating system and was implemented by Google several months ago, through an update.
Therefore, the inhabitants of Colombia who have an iPhone (smartphone from Apple) did not have the opportunity to receive the alert generated by Google services.
How can you receive the earthquake alert on iPhone?
It is important to specify that the The iPhone’s emergency alert system is a service that Apple has long implemented for its users. In fact, this resource feeds on information that is generated by public entities and organizations that deal with situations such as earthquakes.
Therefore, in an emergency, it is very likely that these types of notifications will appear on the phone screen:
- Alerts issued by the government of the country or municipality where the user resides
- Alerts related to imminent threats to safety or life
- Alerts for extreme weather conditions
- AMBER Alerts, a service that allows you to locate missing people in the United States
How to activate emergency alerts on the iPhone?
It is very possible that by default the alert function is activated on the phone, and when one of them is generated the device will generate a special sound that is very similar to an alarm.
But to activate or deactivate shower option you need to follow the following steps
- Go to ‘Settings’
- Select the ‘Notifications’ option
- Scroll down until you reach the bottom of the screen
- There you can activate the option ‘Government Alerts’
However, those with iOS 15.3 or earlier on their iPhone will need to open the Phone app and enter the number *5005*25371# and then tap the button to call. An alert will immediately be generated with a message indicating that the alerts have been activated.
It is worth specifying that emergency alerts is a service that is not enabled in all countries of the world, Colombia is one of those that still does not have this function.
As established by Apple on its official website, government alerts are available on devices with US carriers and the local authorities of the region or country where the user is will be responsible for the content that is issued in said alerts together with the frequency with which the user could receive them.
However, it is likely that in the near future such functionality will be enabled in more countries.
