Entire US West Coast Now Covered By Earthquake Early Warning System

An anonymous reader quotes a report from NPR: Residents living on the West Coast don't know when the next earthquake will hit. But a new expansion of the U.S. earthquake early warning system gives 50 million people in California, Oregon -- and now Washington -- seconds to quickly get to safety whenever the next one hits. As of 8 a.m. Tuesday, cellphone users in California, Oregon and Washington should receive a mobile alert from the ShakeAlert earthquake early warning system when tremors are detected. Alerts are sent from the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Wireless Emergency Alert system, third-party phone apps and other technologies.

The West Coast, the most earthquake-prone region in the U.S., is home to major fault lines that put the area at risk of devastating earthquakes. David Applegate, the acting director of the U.S. Geological Survey, said in a statement that 'ShakeAlert can turn mere seconds into opportunities for people to take life-saving protective actions or for applications to trigger automated actions that protect critical infrastructure.' The ShakeAlert system relies on sensor data from the USGS Advanced National Seismic System -- a collection of regional earthquake monitoring networks throughout the country. Alerts can come through the Wireless Emergency Alert system, which sends text-message alerts similar to Amber Alerts sent to cellphone users when a child is kidnapped. Cellphone users will get an alert only when an earthquake is magnitude 5 or higher.

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