Earthquake researchers in California hope to take advantage of the motion sensors in laptops to create an earthquake-sensing network.

The Quake Catcher Network (QCN) is in the beta testing stage, with links to several hundred laptops. The network’s software will analyze shakes sensed by a computer’s accelerometer and report only big movements to the central server. The pattern of signals received by the server should allow the network to recognize a significant earthquake. The location of networked computers will be identified by their IP addresses and from reports from users.