EarthquakesJapan has an earthquake early-warning system, but California is yet to deploy one
The 2011 Fukushima earthquake claimed many lives, but at least some lives were saved by an early warning system designed ten years ago at Caltech and deployed in Japan in 2007. The system gives people about a minute to prepare for the impending tremor. California is yet to deploy the system.
P-wave detection triggers warning system // Source: uwo.ca
The 2011 Fukushima earthquake claimed many lives, but at least some lives were saved by an early warning system designed ten years ago at Caltech and deployed in Japan in 2007. The system gives people about a minute to prepare for the impending tremor. Gizmodoreports that the early detection system was developed by Japanese seismologist Hiroo Kanamori and UC Berkeley’s Richard Allen. When tectonic plates shift, they release two forms of waves, known as P-waves and S-waves. While S-waves are responsible for the damage done on the surface, P-waves travel through the ground at about twice the speed of their counterpart, but are harmless.
A seismometer can detect P-wave data indicating an earthquake, which is exactly what Japan’s 1,000+ seismometers detected near the Pacific fault line, prompting the Japanese Meteorological Agency to sound the alarm moments before the earthquake hit.
Once the alarm goes off, citizens only have about a minute before the quake hits, but that one minute was enough time for eleven bullet trains safely to stop, 16,000 lifts to be disabled, and warning to be issued to school students to get under their desks. The alarms were set off all over the country, and there was even a system designed to send text messages on mobile phones to warn people. Some 52 million Japanese received text alerts on their mobile phones.
In California, however, this technology is not being used.
The East Bay Express reports that California has “next to nothing in terms of a public seismic warning system,” even though the technology has been available for almost a decade.
The Express notes that building a detection system is only a matter of political decision and resource allocation, and that it is safe to assume that once the issue is discussed, it will not be long before the early-warning system is deployed. Until then, residents of the state will have to hope the ground beneath their feet stays still.
