Monitor earthquakes and shake up the world with this Raspberry Pi seismograph

By Nicole DiGiose, content editor

If you live in an earthquake danger zone, you’re likely familiar with how to keep safe and what to expect when the ground starts rumbling. But if you really want to be prepared, or are a seismologist on a budget, a new add-on for the Raspberry Pi can be part of your next big project. Now raising funds on Kickstarter, the Raspberry Shake 4D, an update to last year’s Raspberry Shake, adds more sensors for extra sensitivity.

The Raspberry Pi Shake 4D is a combination of technologies, fitting right into the Pi. Image source: Raspberry Pi Foundation.

The Raspberry Shake 4D can give you the ability to observe unseen vibrations that happen all around, as well as the big ones that shake things up. According to the Raspberry Shake 4D’s Kickstarter page, these movements aren’t limited to natural movements such as earthquakes, landslides, and sinkholes. Human influence is becoming increasingly more apparent with quarry explosions, nuclear blast testing, deep well waste water injection, and fracking.

If you already have a Raspberry Pi lying around and are looking for a new project, you’re in luck. The Raspberry Pi Shake 4D is a combination of technologies, fitting right into the Pi. To get an idea of how sensitive this equipment can be, check out the video below of last year’s Shake being used to identify the demonstration of a coin being dropped on a table.

Impressively, the 4D version of the device features four times the input sensors of the original version and claims to double the output. According to Ángel Rodríguez, the designer of the device who spoke with Digital Trends, the Raspberry Shake 4D is the most powerful personal seismograph in existence.

“Seismometers, the geophone element of the 4D, are well-purposed for measuring small-to-medium-sized local earthquakes but go off-scale for larger local (

But the device isn’t just meant for preparing for a natural disaster. There’s always something fun to see, such as rush-hour traffic, cheering crowds, or even noisy neighbors. With the Raspberry Shake 4D, you can see double the range of vibrations across all dimensions.

While traditional seismographs cost thousands of dollars, the Raspberry Shake 4D retails for $500, with an early bird price on Kickstarter for $300. Shake up your world and invest in one today!