Early warning system did not warn residents of Los Angeles about a strong earthquake

The first publicly available earthquake early warning mobile application was launched earlier this year as part of a pilot program designed to give residents of Los Angeles County a warning a few seconds before an earthquake occurs.

Фото: Depositphotos

But ShakeAlert LA users did not receive notifications from the app on July 4, when a magnitude 6,4 earthquake hit California—the strongest in the region in 20 years, he writes. NBC Los Angeles.

ShakeAlert issues warnings for all earthquakes, including aftershocks, 5 magnitude and more points in Los Angeles County. The epicenter of the 4 earthquake in July was located in the north in the Mojave Desert in Kern County, so the earthquake did not reach the force threshold needed in the Los Angeles District.

“There were no breakdowns,” said USGS seismologist Robert Graves.

He added that the ShakeAlert system provided a warning to the seismic lab 48 seconds before the shocks arrived in Pasadena.

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Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti explained in a tweet: “The ShakeAlertLA app only sends alerts when shaking is greater than magnitude 5,0 in Los Angeles County. The epicenter with a magnitude of 6,4 was located in Kern County, USGS confirmed that the tremors in Los Angeles were less than 4,5. He added that the issue of lowering the alert threshold is now being considered.

How the application works

After downloading the application, users are prompted to turn on earthquake notifications. Warnings ShakeAlert are issued for all earthquakes, including aftershocks, magnitudes 5,0 and more. The alert includes a beep and a message indicating the expected level of jolt intensity.

The early warning feature only works in Los Angeles County. The application does not have to be open, but in the settings, users must set the phone to always on services. ShakeAlert LA also has resources that can help prepare for an earthquake.

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ShakeAlert LA is part of an early warning system being built for California, Oregon and Washington that detects an earthquake, quickly analyzes the data and sends alerts to users in nearby areas. Warnings can come from a few seconds to a minute before a major shock occurs—enough time to take shelter, slow trains, shut down industrial processes, run backup generators and pause hospital operations.

Pilot programs involving selected users have been held for several years.

In September, a new generation of ShakeAlert software was deployed, including aimed at reducing the number of false alerts. False alerts usually occur when a sensor detects a strong earthquake in other parts of the world and is mistaken for a local earthquake.

At the moment, the network of sensors of the program covers about 50% of the target size of the territories. It should be expanded over the next two years.

As ForumDaily wrote earlier:

• 4 July in southern California and Nevada earthquake struck magnitude xnumx points. Its epicenter was located 6,4 miles (7 kilometers) from the Cirless Valley, about 11 miles (130 kilometers) west of Bakersfield and about 209 miles (200 kilometers) east of the Nevada border.
• After him in the region hundreds of aftershocks were recorded strength from 2 to 4 points.

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