The United States Geological Survey (USGS) awarded approximately $4 million to four universities in California, Washington and Oregon to support the earthquake early warning system, “ShakeAlert.” The California Institute of Technology, University of California, Berkeley, University of Washington and University of Oregon will transition the system toward production stage. ShakeAlert EEW will give people a few seconds to take precautions before an earthquake, which for many it could be the difference between life and death. There are currently 70 organizations testing the early warning system in sectors such as utilities and transportation, emergency management, state and city government, and industry.
Structural Focus President and SAFEq Institute Managing Director, David Cocke S.E., reflects on the importance of this partnership. “It looks like the days are fast approaching where we will have an early-warning system in place that will allow for our clients to “brace” themselves for approaching earthquake shaking. In addition to giving them the opportunity to be “safe”, they can now put systems in place such as automatic shut-down of key operations to allow them and their business to better survive the shaking. Also, this system will provide us with the added benefit to immediately check out the location of the epicenter and a ballpark estimate of the shaking that is expected so that we can respond quickly and appropriately to our clients.” Here are a few tips from David on how to prepare your business for future earthquakes.
For more information about this partnership visit USGS.