The United States launches the first statewide earthquake warning system based on sensor monitoring

[ Instrument Network Instrument Development ] On October 17, California State State officially launched the first statewide earthquake early warning system to send early warning information to the public before the destructive earthquake wave arrives, helping the public to take timely measures.

The nation's first statewide earthquake warning system, also known as the MyShake application, was developed by the Department of Seismology at the University of California, Berkeley, and was exhibited on October 17, 2019 in Oakland, California. Data map

According to the California Governor's Emergency Services Office, earthquake warning information will be released in two ways, one is to remind the public through a mobile app called MyShake, and the other is to send the message to the public via SMS. . The Amber Alert is an emergency alert system for child kidnapping in North America.

The office said in a statement that the early warning system will use statewide sensors to monitor earthquakes. After sensing the seismic longitudinal wave with fast propagation speed, the sensor quickly transmits the data to the earthquake warning center. Immediately after the warning center determines the location and scale of the earthquake, it sends out early warning information, which can provide valuable response time for the public before the more destructive seismic transverse wave arrives.

According to reports, this system was jointly developed by the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, Berkeley and other institutions. The Governor's Emergency Services Office stated that there is still room for improvement in this early warning system. In a few cases, the warning information may be inaccurate, and there may be cases where the public receives the information but no earthquake has occurred.

It is understood that California is in a high-risk area, and 6.4 and 7.1 earthquakes occurred on July 4 and 5 this year.

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Similar to the situation in California, in the state of Washington on the west coast of the United States, a severe earthquake of magnitude 8 to 9 can occur at any time because the western waters are in the Cascadia subduction zone. In this regard, seismologists are increasingly worried that due to the lack of monitoring of seismic zones in the ocean, it may not be possible to detect major earthquakes and tsunamis that could cause serious damage to the western part of Washington State at any time. This is because the subduction of faults at sea will release a lot of significant signals before the earthquake, and monitoring the waters in this area will help scientists to detect earthquake signs in advance.

In response, scientists have submitted a proposal to an international organization to deploy submarine monitoring sensors on the west coast of Huazhou. The organization is the "International Ocean Drilling Program" with the United States as its main sponsor. The first step in the proposal is to set up four monitoring sensors in the Oregon Sea on the West Coast as soon as possible, each sensor reaching 1,000 feet below the seabed. However, scientists hope to add more subsea monitoring sensors across the West Coast.

It is understood that if the project is finally approved, it will cost millions of dollars to complete in a few years.