Today, the U.S. Geological Survey and the State of California pressed the “go” button to allow the first-ever statewide public testing of the California Early Earthquake Warning System, which is powered by USGS’s earthquake early warning alerts, called ShakeAlerts.
Alerts will be delivered by two independent methods, first over the federal Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system and second through the University of California Berkeley’s MyShake smartphone app.
"Today we commemorate the 30th anniversary of one of our nation’s most destructive earthquakes, the magnitude 6.9 Loma Prieta quake. That event also marked the first deployment of an early forerunner of the ShakeAlert system, which was used to warn rescue workers about potentially dangerous aftershocks,” said USGS Director Jim Reilly. “Now, starting across the state of California, ShakeAlert is powering the nation’s first-ever statewide public earthquake early warning system that could be expanded to provide an early warning benefit for all citizens living in earthquake country,” he added.
USGS is starting delivery of ShakeAlert data through FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, which is used to deliver AMBER and weather alerts to cell phones via the WEA system operated by cellular companies. USGS and its partners have extensively tested this alert delivery pathway and are working continuously to improve the speed of ShakeAlert delivery to wireless devices.
Continue reading at USGS.
Image via USGS.