Ever dreamed of your smartphone informing you about the imminent dangers of an earthquake?

This could be a reality soon with scientists concluding that most smartphones and laptops have small sensors that can spot moderate and large earthquakes, above magnitude 5 on the Richter scale.

The study, published in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (BSSA) and conducted by Antonino D’Alessandro and Giuseppe D’Anna, seismologists at Istituto Nazionale di Geosifica e Vulcanologia in Italy suggests that small chips used in smartphones to adjust the orientation of the screen could serve to create a real-time urban seismic network, easily increasing the amount of strong motion data collected during a large earthquake.

Most smartphones and tablets have Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems or MEMs.

According to States Chroncle, Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems, or MEMS, is a technology that in its most general form can be defined as miniaturized mechanical and electro-mechanical elements (i.e., devices and structures) that are made using the techniques of microfabrication.

The critical physical dimensions of MEMS devices can vary from well below one micron on the lower end of the dimensional spectrum, all the way to several millimeters.

MEM accelerometers are used to measure acceleration and orientation, and have previously revolutionized car safety when they were introduced as a trigger for air-bags in the event of a crash.