California’s earthquake early warning system sends first public alert
California's new statewide earthquake early warning system– the MyShake app– has sent out its first public alert on Tuesday, December 17, 2019. The warning was sent for M4.3 tremor that took place in Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties, along the San Andreas fault, and 40 people received the alert that took 8.7 seconds to go out.
The quake was initially estimated at M4.8 according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) data, which was high enough for the app to send the alert. The termor eventually registered at M4.3 on the Modified Mercalli scale.
Big news! Our first live early earthquake warning alert was sent out for a M4.4 #earthquake in Parkfield, CA (central California).
If you received an alert, we’d love to hear your thoughts!— MyShake (@MyShakeApp) December 17, 2019
The warning reached people in the town of Paso Robles, roughly 35 km (22 miles) away in enough time to give them about one second of warning.
However, that far away, the intensity dropped to two on the scale, hardly enough to cause noticeable damage.
According to reports, the quake was mild that no one called the fire department.
"I didn’t see any damage or effects from the earthquake," said Chief Jonathan Stornetta.
If one stands near a powerful enough tremor, the warnings will come via the Wireless Emergency Alert System, or pushed via the MyShake app on iOS and Android.
The app was released publicly on October 18, 2019. It uses data provided by the USGS's backbone ShakeAlert system.
Hi, you should be able to find MyShake in the App Store and it should look like this. pic.twitter.com/s5wU9Ev69X
— MyShake (@MyShakeApp) October 19, 2019
Featured image credit: @terimakasih0/Pixabay
If you value what we do here, create your ad-free account and support our journalism.
Your support makes a difference
Dear valued reader,
We hope that our website has been a valuable resource for you.
The reality is that it takes a lot of time, effort, and resources to maintain and grow this website. We rely on the support of readers like you to keep providing high-quality content.
If you have found our website to be helpful, please consider making a contribution to help us continue to bring you the information you need. Your support means the world to us and helps us to keep doing what we love.
Support us by choosing your support level – Silver, Gold or Platinum.
Other support options include Patreon pledges, one-off payments using PayPal and purchasing products from our webshop.
Thank you for your consideration. Your support is greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Teo Blašković
Commenting rules and guidelines
We value the thoughts and opinions of our readers and welcome healthy discussions on our website. In order to maintain a respectful and positive community, we ask that all commenters follow these rules:
We reserve the right to remove any comments that violate these rules. By commenting on our website, you agree to abide by these guidelines. Thank you for helping to create a positive and welcoming environment for all.