Jawbone UP activity tracker finds a new application – as an earthquake tracker

Activity trackers can be a good way to monitor not only exercise but also sleep patterns – and now Jawbone’s UP device seems to have found a third application, as an earthquake tracker. The above graph shows the moment at which the magnitude 6 earthquake hit Napa, California, at around 3.20am … 

We reviewed UP on our sister site 9to5Mac when it first launched way back in 2011, when we described it as “pretty featured.” It now seems it can claim one extra feature: for all but those in the deepest phase of sleep, you can see the sharp jump where UP wearers were awakened by the quake.

The earthquake, the strongest to hit Northern California in 25 years, was centred six miles southwest of Napa, in the area made famous by its wines. The California Earthquake Authority said that the damage was “fairly significant,” with reports of around 160 people treated for injuries, one of them critical. Thousands of people in and around Napa, Santa Rosa and Sonama were left without power, and a state of emergency has been declared.

Jawbone revamped and relaunched the UP bracelet in 2012, opened up the platform to other health-tracking services last year and last month added new weight-management and food-tracking features to the app.