A new look, new features and improved navigation will greet GeoNet app users when they log in over the coming days.

If you have automatic updates turned on, you should receive the new version shortly – if not, it should be available for download in the App Store (for iOS) and Google Play (for Android).

What’s new?

The updated app has a new look and feel, with simpler navigation and a cleaner, more user-friendly interface.

New features include:

• The shaking map now has two additional layers – peak ground acceleration (PGA) and peak ground velocity (PGV). The map shows shaking around the country in the past hour, so after a large shake the map lights up. PGA and PGV help engineers to assess the impact on buildings and land after large quakes.

• We’ve added a “quality” index to a quake’s details – indicating how confident we are about the quake’s location and magnitude. There are three descriptors: caution, good and best. Caution and good are calculated by our automatic system, best means one of our duty seismologists has reviewed the quake.

Stay in touch – enable notifications

If you already have the app, the update will remember your previous notification settings and carry them over. You can choose to be notified of the following:

• Earthquake alerts (usually sent within a few minutes of a quake)

• Volcanic Alert Bulletins (when the volcanoes show signs of change)

• GeoNet news stories (usually 3-4 a month, unless there is a major event).

Tell us what you think!

Remember, the app is always a work in progress! We’re already working on our next release, and we’re always looking to incorporate new features based on your feedback. Please let us know what you think: email info@geonet.org.nz.

If you don't have the app yet you can download it from Google Play for Android or the App Store for Apple