ShookSafe
Multilingual real-time earthquake and tsunami companion for travelers, expats, and families of people in Japan and other Pacific Ring countries.
International travelers, expats, and diaspora families with loved ones in Japan and other seismic zones
- Real-time JMA/USGS alerts translated into 10+ languages with plain-language severity explanations
- Offline map of nearest evacuation shelters with walking directions that work when cell networks are congested
- Family group check-in via SMS and satellite fallback that works even when 4G is down
- 60-second voice-prompt action guides tailored to your exact location and building type
A 7.1-magnitude Japan earthquake drew 302 Hacker News points and front-page attention, exposing how Japan's world-class warning system is essentially invisible to the 30M+ annual foreign visitors and the millions of expats who have no idea what to do when their phone screams in Japanese.
Real, recurring pain: 30M+ annual visitors plus millions of expats face a documented language barrier with JMA alerts, generating sustained guide content (japanlifestart.com, journal.jpn.org) and a 302-point HN thread on the 7.1 quake; multiple 'must-download' articles target this audience.Disaster Apps & Emergency Info for Foreigners in Japan (2026) ↗Japan Earthquake Emergency: Alerts, Action & Safety for Foreigners ↗
Market is saturated by well-funded incumbents: official 'Safety tips' (JNTO/JTA, free, 14 languages, push EEW/tsunami/typhoon/volcano), NERV Disaster Prevention (Gehirn, leased JMA line, English, location-based), plus Japan Shelter Guide — a roundup article already lists '6 Smart Choices.' Hard to differentiate a new entrant.Safety tips for travelers - JNTO ↗NERV Disaster Prevention app ↗Earthquake App Options: 6 Smart Choices for your Smartphone ↗
Two strongest incumbents (Safety tips by JTA and NERV) are free; users have zero history of paying for disaster alerts and the value is intermittent, making subscription conversion weak — only niche family/diaspora features could justify a premium.Safety tips for travelers - JNTO (free, government-backed) ↗NERV Disaster Prevention - Google Play (free) ↗
Seismic/tsunami risk in the Pacific Ring is structural and permanent; Japan alone has thousands of felt quakes yearly, ensuring enduring need for alerts regardless of news cycles.Dissemination of Information to Foreigners in Preparation for Natural Disasters (JMA Journal 2025) ↗
Building a faster-than-NERV alert pipeline is hard (NERV uses a dedicated leased JMA line), but a wrapper around public JMA feeds with multilingual UI and family-check-in is buildable in months by a small team.Best Earthquake Apps for Japan (2025): Free Downloads ↗