Earthquake! Can I Rely on My Smartphone to Call for Help?

There is a lesson to be learned from the 5.8 magnitude earthquake that struck the Eastern Seaboard of the United States Tuesday.

Labeled only as "moderate" on the Richter scale, the quake centered in Mineral, Va., did not cause any major damage to infrastructure or cause any serious injuries.

What happened, though, could help assess the readiness for a stronger earthquake or other calamities.

An iPhone or whatever smartphone could be as valuable as a first-aid kit after an earthquake. It can be used to contact, check on, and look for your family and friends. When trapped in rubble or an elevator, you can call for help. A locator function might help rescuers find you. But Tuesday, many people in New York, Washington, and other areas were not able to connect to calls using their smartphones, had difficulty sending text messages, or even use some landline service.

Carriers in the U.S. did not experience damage to infrastructure or their wireless networks, but what went wrong?

Carriers Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile, attributed the failure to "network congestion," the "temporary mass calling event" or "higher call volumes" following the quake. CTIA, the U.S. wireless industry's trade group, sums it up: "Our industry's infrastructure appears to be intact, but because many wireless consumers are using the networks, we are experiencing higher than normal traffic. In these high-volume instances, there can be delays. We encourage people to send text messages and e-mails to contact their loved ones."

Elizabeth Woyke, writing for Forbes, points out that Tuesday's earthquake revealed that cell networks still get congested when millions of people try to make calls all at the same time.

According to Woyke, while more advanced cellular technology has been rolled out, many of the recent upgrades focused on the data side of their networks. These 4G upgrades were largely implemented to better support mobile Web browsing and relatively new services like streaming high-definition video to phones. The other factor is that service on wireless networks is greatly affected by the number of users in a given area, Woyke says.

Proven by the heavy volume of calls made Tuesday afternoon, mobile devices are clearly important in situations like this. The question is, are the carriers and our smartphones ready for a stronger quake? Apparently not.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency's advice for now is to stop using your cell phones.

"FEMA is monitoring reports from the #earthquake, cell service is busy in D.C., try to stay off your cell phone if it is not an emergency," the agency tweeted.

But in the long run, adequate solutions must be established. In the event of disaster, waiting for call volumes to return to "normal" or waiting for the cell-on-wheels that carriers deploy during major events might be a little too late.

Carriers must install more antennae and other equipment to cover crowded areas like cities, Woyke says. Carriers should not only outdo each other in providing the best Internet connection or video streaming service, they should also provide a call service that works when needed most. Aside from that, more public payphones, now a rare relic of a bygone era, should be put up.

The 9.0-magnitude earthquake that struck Japan in March, killing more than 20,000, is an appropriate barometer. While Japan is one of the most technologically advanced countries, massive damage to infrastructure severely disrupted communications. Many survivors, left in the dark and cold because of the blackouts, instead were lining up on public phones, which were still functioning.

The Public Safety Alliance said Tuesday: "The events of today once again prove public safety's need for dedicated spectrum and illustrate one way the public would directly benefit: better cell service during a crisis. Commercial wireless systems were crippled today, but D block allocation would give public safety its own network, helping to alleviate this problem."