Americans want a statewide earthquake early warning system
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The 6.0 Napa earthquake on 24 August was a wake-up call not only for the wine country. The shaking was also felt in Sacramento and San Francisco, galvanizing a host of politicians to go on record urging immediate funding for a statewide earthquake early warning system.
A UC Berkeley release reports that four of those figures — State Senators Alex Padilla and Jerry Hill, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, and San Francisco mayor Ed Lee — brought that message last week (3 September) to the opening of a three-day international conference at UC Berkeley about early warning systems and how to implement them. The conference was organized by the Berkeley Seismological Laboratory and hosted by its director, Richard Allen.
“The Napa quake was the latest reminder — thankfully not too tragic — of the urgency with which we need to act to establish an earthquake early warning system to help protect California,” said Padilla, who represents the San Fernando Valley and last year introduced legislation, SB135, to create such a system.
According to Homeland Security News Wire Alerts are sent out based on data from the California Integrated Seismic Network, warning of impending ground shaking, the expected severity of shaking and how many seconds before it starts. Agencies have seconds to a minute to, for example, slow commuter trains, close valves, bring elevators to a stop at the nearest floor or stop amusement park rides.
“We need to turn over every rock necessary to find funding,” Padilla said, noting that what California does would “become the backbone” of a western regional and national system.
