California Launches Statewide Earthquake Warning App

In preparation for the "Big One," the State of California launched a mobile app that notifies users of the upcoming earthquakes.

Gov. Gavin Newson announced this initiative on the 30th anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake, which claimed dozens of lives and collapsed part of the Bay Bridge. Gov. Newson said that this is a huge leap forward in terms of preventing more catastrophic death brought by the earthquake.

California's Office of Emergency Services claimed that ground motion sensors were scattered all over the state and could detect ground movement before people could. Then a wireless emergency system will send warning through the app called "MyShake" for at least 20 seconds before the earthquake starts.

The app was developed by a team of seismologists at the University of California, Berkeley. For it to work, at least a magnitude 4.5 earthquake must be detected. The amount of time before people receive the warning depends on their distance from the epicenter.

Although the warning period is short, officials are still hopeful that it will be enough to minimize earthquake-related accidents at least. Gov. Newsom mentioned a few examples like slowing down a transit system or shutting off a transmission line.

This statewide alerting system is just an expanded version of the app released in the city of Los Angeles earlier, which is the first ever earthquake warning application released in the U.S. Much like its predecessor, MyShake also relies on the US Geological Survey (USGS) network of ground sensors located both under and aboveground at the West Coast. 

The app, which will be released this week, is still being tested, but experts will work continuously to improve its speed and reliability.

USGS spokesperson Robert DeGroot claimed that the system in California is just a part of a larger earthquake warning system that will serve residents on the West Coast.

Gov. Newsom encouraged everyone to download the app to ensure the safety of everyone and their family for the looming earthquake dubbed as "The Big One." 

According to USGS, "The Big One" is likely overdue. Using radiocarbon dating method, scientists concluded that major earthquake occurs every 200–300 years, with the last one happening during the time of Spanish exploration. However, there are many inconsistencies recorded, making this average time not reliable for predictions, especially since earthquakes are not yet fully understood.

But through observing the fault line's pattern, scientists concluded that the southern segment will probably the location of the major earthquake.