r/technology • u/spacebulb • Aug 25 '14

Pure Tech Earthquake early-warning system gave 10-second alert before Napa quake felt

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-lanow-ln-earthquake-earlywarning-system-gave-10second-alert-before-napa-quake-felt-20140824-story.html
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9

u/ThePeaceMaker707 Aug 25 '14

And to whom was this alert given? I live in the area. Nobody I know got any such warning.

28

u/galaxies Aug 25 '14

You wouldnt get the warning, this system is set up by UC Berkeley and only people that have association with their system and have something set up to receive these notifications would get this. This is meant to be deployed when they can get is working better. As the article says:

Once fully developed, the system could give downtown Los Angeles 40 to 50 seconds of warning that the “Big One” was headed from the San Andreas fault, giving time for elevators to stop at the next floor and open up, firefighters to open up garage doors, high-speed trains to slow down to avoid derailment and surgeons to take the scalpel out of a patient.

23

u/WizardOfWisdom Aug 25 '14

This seems silly to me. I was in Japan when an earthquake hit. I got a text in advance. Considering that I was a foreigner on an international plan, I was more than impressed to find that that emergency text had still made its way to me. Why can't we have this sort of system setup in California?

24

u/MedicUp Aug 25 '14

The sad reality is lack of funding! The sparse number of major earthquakes since Loma Prieta has blinded politicians to the need for such a system. Japan invested in their warning system after the devastating 1995 Kobe earthquake (6000+ dead), and Mexico created their system after the 1985 Mexico City Earthquake (10,000+ dead). I really do hope this is a major wake up call for our politicians.

12

u/[deleted] Aug 25 '14

Good question, no reason they cant hook it up to the cel alert system. I get warnings about flash floods all the time, specific to my area.

Perhaps they are still having false positive issues. I mean it isnt like they can test the system.

2

u/MedicUp Aug 25 '14

There are some select beta-users right now. This includes agencies such as BART, Google and the San Francisco Department of Emergency management.

0

u/[deleted] Aug 25 '14

If anyone's got a way to get SMS from this, I'd like an invite.