Jawbone user data shows how Bay Area 'quake affected users

One of the neat things about wearables are their ability to give you data about your life and habits. Making personal data available and pertinent is why we enjoy wearable tech, but what if it can be used on a broader scale? Jawbone recently shared data about Bay Area users' sleep patterns to show the effect an earthquake can have on your sleep.

This weekend, California's Bay Area was shaken by a 6.0 magnitude quake. That rocker (or roller, depending on what kind of 'quake it was) hit at about 3:20am. We can source that from scientists who monitor seismic activity, or just look at data from Jawbone. Their data shows that users were jolted awake at the time the earthquake hit, and matches seismic activity very closely.

The cities of Napa, Sonoma, Vallejo, and Fairfield were closest to the epicenter (15 miles away). Jawbone users in those locales were the most roused, with Jawbone noting 93% of users there were woken by the ground shaking. As you get further away, fewer people were affected. San Francisco and Oakland saw just over half of Jawbone users jolted out of their slumber, while almost no users in Modesto — 100 miles form the epicenter of the earthquake — were woken up.

It's a neat statistical look at data from a broad span of users, at least geographically speaking. It also opens the mindset for using a wearable for more than just calorie counting or monitoring steps taken. What if you were roused awake, and Jawbone noticed your activity level stopped after that? In a catastrophic event, that might be something authorities may want to know.

Source: Jawbone