FAQ
Direct answers. No marketing language.
Earthquake products are easy to oversell. We'll keep the boundaries visible. If a question is missing, write to info@sismosmart.com.
Will this device warn me before an earthquake?
We're talking seconds, not minutes. If the earthquake comes from a distance, the device can pick up the P-wave and notify you before the stronger S-wave arrives. This isn't possible for every earthquake — for nearby epicenters the warning window is very short.
Can a single device tell me my building is safe?
No. A single device can't declare a building safe or unsafe. That's the engineer's call. The device gives the engineer better data; the decision stays with the engineer.
What data do you collect?
Vibration readings, temperature, humidity, pressure, device health. We don't link personal information to your device. We don't sell your data. The Privacy page has details.
Is my exact location exposed?
We know your device's neighborhood-level location because we need it for event correlation. Finer location only happens with an explicit pilot agreement.
Can researchers access my data?
Only anonymized and only under a separate agreement with you. That flow doesn't exist yet — it's on the roadmap.
How is this different from Google's earthquake alerts?
Google uses your phone's accelerometer — free, global, very good at what it does. But it can't measure your building's health; it only estimates the earthquake source. We focus on your building: how it vibrates, how it changes with the season, what state it's in after an earthquake. That's what Google doesn't do.
What happens when the internet goes down?
The device keeps working and records events locally. It can't send notifications without Wi-Fi. When the connection returns, it uploads the pending events.
What happens during a power cut?
There's a small supercapacitor inside the device — about 30 to 60 seconds of bridge power. Long enough to send the last event to the cloud. Longer outages shut the device off.
How hard is installation?
Plug into the wall over USB-C, stick to the wall using the included adhesive, pair from the app. No drilling, no wiring, no technician. Five minutes.
How many devices should one building have?
One works. Two or three on different floors lets the system read the building's mode shape, which is much more valuable for structural health. In apartment pilots we target at least three per building.
What do PGA, PGV and MMI mean?
PGA is the peak ground acceleration during an earthquake, in m/s². PGV is peak ground velocity, in cm/s. MMI is the Modified Mercalli Intensity, a scale from I to XII describing how the shaking felt. The device reports all three after an event.
What does natural frequency tell you?
Every building has a frequency it naturally vibrates at. For a five-storey reinforced concrete building this is roughly 2 to 4 Hz. The number drifts down with structural damage. Tracking it lets us catch early signs of trouble.
Which way should the device face?
There's an upward arrow on the back. Point it toward the ceiling. The device's X and Y axes should align with the building's horizontal directions. Mounted 90 degrees off, the data is still useful but slightly less informative.
Does the device record sound?
No. There's no microphone. Only an accelerometer for ground vibration. Conversations and ambient sound can't be recorded — those would require different sensors entirely.
Does my data leave Turkey?
No. We use cloud infrastructure compliant with Turkish data regulation. Data is processed on AWS Turkey and Europe regions. No transfer to other jurisdictions.
When does it launch?
Pilots in summer 2026. Broader launch by end of 2026 or early 2027. Certification and manufacturing can shift the timeline. Sign up for the newsletter and you'll hear first.