California’s early earthquake warning system will be made publicly available across the state for the first time in an effort to give people more time to prepare in case of a seismic event. The system will debut on Thursday, making it the first earthquake notification system in the nation.
The warning system, ShakeAlert, will use two different methods to deliver warnings. First will be through the MyShake cell phone app and the other uses the same notification system that issues Amber Alerts, those with the app will likely receive double notifications. The system was developed at the University of California, Berkeley, and is available on both iOS and Android devices.
Brian Ferguson, deputy director for crisis communication and public affairs at the Office of Emergency Services, says that the app is, “at a place now where we’re satisfied with the performance and the testing, which has been very well done, that we think we’re at a place where it’s not perfect but we can keep people safe, and that’s our ultimate threshold.”
The notifications will only “go to people that are going to feel shaking,” according to Richard Allen, director of the UC Berkeley Seismological Laboratory. In addition, there is a minimum threshold that must be reached before an alert is sent out, and that is being greater that a 4.5 magnitude as well as Level 3 shaking.
The system does not predict earthquakes, but rather uses numerous seismic stations to detect the beginning of an earthquake. That data is then sent to computers which will calculate location, magnitude and intensity of shaking that will determine what areas notifications will be sent to. Depending on the distance from the epicenter, the system will notify anywhere from several seconds to a minute before shaking starts.
While the system is still in its infancy, developers expect to make greater strides as more data is revealed through its use.
