Researchers say an earthquake emoji could save lives

Earthquake scientists are campaigning for an earthquake emoji because they believe it could help save lives during the violent natural disasters, reports Newsweek. Currently, there are emojis for other natural disasters including volcanoes, tsunamis, tornadoes, and cyclones. The scientists say that those universally recognizable emoji help save lives because people–no matter what their language–can recognize the glyphs. As Chris Rowan, a geologist at the Kent State University, told Newsweek: “If you have a symbol that everyone uses, then you can communicate that information in a timely manner.”

Of all natural disasters, earthquakes affect the most people each year. The death toll from earthquakes that occurred between 2010 and 2015 topped a quarter of a million people. The earthquake scientists are currently reaching out to designers to help with designing the earthquake emoji. Once they’ve found a suitable one, they will submit it to the Unicode Consortium.

https://www.fastcompany.com/40588066/researchers-say-an-earthquake-emoji-could-save-lives