QuakeRescue LifeLink is an Android app that helps increase the chances of locating people trapped under rubble after an earthquake — even when they cannot reach or operate their phone. It uses the phone’s motion sensors to detect earthquake-like shaking, starts a 5-minute safety countdown, and can automatically activate a continuous SOS Quake Bluetooth beacon, a battery-adaptive rescue siren, and an optional emergency SMS.

The same app also includes a built-in BLE scanner so that people who are safe can help search for others.

When monitoring is active, the app can start the 5-minute safety countdown in two ways:

Local motion detection – The app analyses the phone’s motion sensors for earthquake-like patterns (developed with real earthquake recordings and tested against everyday movement).

Official earthquake data – The app continuously retrieves recent earthquake information from three public sources:

• United States Geological Survey (USGS)
• European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC)
• Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA)

If an earthquake meets the configured magnitude, distance and age criteria (based on your available location), the same 5-minute safety countdown starts automatically. You can tap “I’M SAFE” to cancel or “NOT SAFE – ACTIVATE NOW” to start rescue mode immediately. If you do nothing, rescue mode activates when the countdown reaches zero.

Yes. The app shows recent earthquakes both near your location and worldwide, using data from USGS, EMSC and JMA. This gives you an overview of current seismic activity in addition to the automatic alerting function.

No. QuakeRescue LifeLink does not intercept Android emergency alerts or national cell-broadcast warnings, and it does not contact authorities. It is an additional layer of protection that works with public earthquake data from USGS, EMSC and JMA. Always follow official instructions and contact local emergency services whenever possible.

• A continuous BLE beacon named “SOS Quake” is broadcast (detectable by ordinary phones and rescue scanners).
• A multi-frequency rescue siren runs in battery-saving pulses (15 seconds on – 10 seconds silence – 15 seconds on).
• An optional emergency SMS (if enabled) is sent with available location and a matching unique rescue-event ID.
• The siren interval lengthens as the battery decreases, with the design objective of keeping the system running for up to 96 hours.

The app includes a powerful BLE scanner that anyone who is safe can use to help search for others.

It displays nearby Bluetooth devices grouped into three categories:

• SOS Quake signals (people using QuakeRescue LifeLink in rescue mode)
• Named BLE devices
• Unidentified (unnamed) BLE devices

All devices are sorted by signal strength (strongest first). The scanner shows:

• Signal strength in RSSI
• Approximate proximity (very close / close / moderate / far / very weak)
• A visual signal bar
• Whether the signal is getting stronger, stable or weaker (helping you move toward or away from the source)

This means you can also locate people who do not have the app installed — any nearby Bluetooth device can be detected and tracked by signal strength.

Core rescue functions — motion detection, the continuous SOS Quake BLE beacon, and the adaptive siren — work completely offline. Internet is required only for retrieving official earthquake data (USGS, EMSC, JMA) and for viewing recent earthquakes. Mobile service is needed only if you enable the optional emergency SMS.

When rescue mode starts, the app generates a short unique identifier (6 hexadecimal characters). The same ID appears in both the BLE beacon and the optional emergency SMS. This helps rescue teams or family members match a location message with the correct signal when several beacons are active.

The system was developed and tested using real earthquake recordings and extensively validated against everyday human movement (walking, running, driving, stairs, exercise equipment, etc.). A safe verification mode lets you test authentic earthquake recordings without triggering SMS, beacon or siren.

• Motion analysis and all core logic run locally on your device.
• No advertising, analytics, tracking SDKs or developer cloud backend.
• The developer never receives your motion data, contacts, location history or SMS content.
• Data leaves the phone only when you enable optional functions (emergency SMS, nearby-earthquake requests, or the public BLE beacon).

Full details are in the Privacy Policy.

Only the permissions required for the features you use:

• Motion sensors – earthquake detection
• Location – optional SMS location & nearby earthquake checks
• SMS – optional emergency messages (disabled by default)
• Bluetooth / Nearby devices – SOS Quake beacon and scanner
• Notifications – countdown and rescue alerts
• Internet – retrieving official earthquake data from USGS, EMSC and JMA

You can withdraw any permission at any time in Android settings.

No. The optional emergency SMS is disabled by default. You must configure recipients and grant SMS permission before it can be sent. When enabled, it is sent only if rescue mode activates.

The design objective is at least 96 hours of continuous BLE beacon + adaptive siren. Actual time depends on phone model, battery condition, temperature and system settings. The siren becomes less frequent as battery level drops to conserve power while keeping the beacon continuous.

Android 8.0 and newer. The app is available in 29 languages.

Download the official APK from the Skoog Marine website (or from the official Google Play listing when available). Only install from these official sources. Android may ask you to allow installation from that source and may scan the file with Google Play Protect.

Yes. QuakeRescue LifeLink is provided as a free safety-support tool.

The app was developed by Göran Skoog

Contact: Goran@skoogmarine.com
Website: www.skoogmarine.com