Disaster Warnings
Just 20 seconds might save a life, a house or a school. The new regional earthquake warning system is designed to promote those 20 seconds that could save people from a disaster.
The Earthquake Early Warning System can detect small to large earthquakes very quickly so that a warning could be sent out before destructive seismic waves arrive. It will also give a warning of the intensity of the shaking. These warnings would allow people to take protective actions, such as allowing them to drop and hold cover. Even emergency responders will have time to prepare.
“When people feel an earthquake, they immediately begin to freeze and do not know what to do, this shake alert allows people to mentally adjust before the actual shaking begins and then they can be prepared and get to a safe place”, said Claude Felizardo, Earthquake Early Warning developer.
The USGS has supported research and development on earthquake early warning since 2008. It has partnered with several universities such as Caltech, the University of California Berkeley and others, with goals to develop methods that will allow a rapid detection of earthquakes in the United States.
“The USGS is very dedicated along with its partners in making an Earthquake Early Warning System”, said Doug Given, a Geophysicist and Earthquake Early Warning coordinator.
The first Early Warning System was created in 1989 and was opened for about six months. At the time, the system did not have the sources or technology that we have today, which is why it was hardly known about until today.
Every available technology will be used to make sure that the earthquake early warning messages reach as many people as quickly as possible. Those directing the program say peo...
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... positive that the money will come, but are not sure of when it will happen.
The Earthquake Warning System in Japan provided information to its residents about the earthquake and tsunami in Tokyo back in 2011. The earthquake warnings there are broadcast on radio and TV. According to California officials, more than 52 million people received the warning on their smartphones.
The warning system in California is not as strong as theirs. Japan’s warning system has 1,089 detection stations, while California only has 587. According to UC Berkeley seismologist, for the Earthquake Early Warning System to be fully operational, the state will need about 3,000 detection stations.
An Earthquake Early Warning System on the West Coast could provide as much as 60 seconds of warning before strong shaking arrives. These few seconds could do as much as saving a life and a home.
Earthquakes, by Webster’s dictionary definition, are, “a shaking or trembling of the earth that is volcanic or tectonic in origin.” World Book Encyclopedia reports scientists believe that more than 8,000 earthquakes occur each day without causing damage. A little more than 1,000 each year are strong enough to be felt. Earthquakes occur in the general sense, anywhere on land. Other earthquakes go by different names, such as volcanic eruptions and tsunamis, large tidal wave storms that occur underwater, primarily in the Pacific Ocean.
On February 4th 1975 in Haicheng China there was a magnitude 7.5 earthquake. Over a period of months there were changes in elevation in land, ground water and unusual animal behavior which are all precursors to an earthquake. Days before the 7.5 magnitude earthquake there were foreshocks that triggered an eviction warning that effectively saved over 150,000 lives or injuries. This is a pro as this forecast saved thousands of lives and had the people of this area (knowing this was a place of seismic activity) took precautions, like that of earthquake resistant buildings, evacuation points, preparing disaster supplies among other preparations the following may not have happened or would have been less of a disaster.
Although there is no way of knowing exactly when an earthquake is going to occur. Scientists have been able to predict an earthquakes range for them to occur. For example, if a fault hasn’t gone off for around 20 years, then this fault is likely to go off in the next five years. This is as close as scientists can get to exactly knowing when an earthquake will occur, although this can still help people to be prepared to some extent. We know that an earthquake will occur with the tectonic plates movements and with them either colliding, sliding or doing both against each other. An earthquake will occur with the force of these movements, but depending on the strength of the movements depends how strong the earthquake is on the Richter Scale (see source 5) or on a Seismograph (see source 6).
Imagine if a 9.0 earthquake struck the West Coast today, resulting in a giant tsunami. Coastal towns would be washed away or completely isolated, and electricity would be lost (FOX5). There would be $70 billion in damage and people would only have 15 minutest to evacuate or move to higher ground resulting in 10,000 deaths (FOX5). This sounds like a plot for a scary movie, but this is actually a reality. The Oregon Coast in located on a subduction zone, which makes it very susceptible to major earthquakes and tsunamis. With the Cascadia subduction zone running along he West Coast the threat of a major tsunami is very real.
I think being prepared and educated will save many lives if and when we get the big one in the Cascadia region. Works Cited http://www.crew.org/cascadia http://www.crew.org/sites/default/files/cascadia_subduction_scenario_2013.pdf http://www.pnsn.org/outreach/earthquakesources/crustalfaults www.iris.edu/hq/files/programs/education_and_outreach/aotm/5/2.Subduction_Rebound_Background.pdf www.crew.org/sites/default/files
Earthquakes in California are certainly not a surprise. What is a surprise is their unpredictability and randomness. Geologists say there is roughly a 50 percent chance that a magnitude 8 or more quake will hit the Los Angeles area sometime over the next 30 years. And, over the past twenty years, the Los Angeles area has witnessed several earthquakes, and in particular, two that were quite devastating; the 1971 San Fernando earthquake, and the January 17, 1994, Northridge Earthquake. Given the certainty that earthquakes will occur, they still seem to come as a surprise, and leave many communities unprepared to deal with their aftermath.
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “we learn geology the morning after the earthquake.” Fortunately for those living along the San Andreas Fault line in California, there are people behind the scenes, from geologists to city and emergency planners, who have no intention of waiting that long.
Predicting tsunamis is not a precise art; unlike some natural disasters, tsunamis are not climate based and do not happen during a particular season. In the case of the Sumatra earthquake and tsunami, an ocean-based sensors and a warning system in place could have been an enormous help. At the time of the tsunami, there were no ocean-based sensors in place in the Indian Ocean—which lead to a lack of knowledge of the tsunami, resulting in a lack of a plan to move to higher ground resulting in 230,000 were killed due to the Boxing Day
From studying the science behind the San Francisco earthquake, scientists have made a number of important discoveries involving how earthquakes function. At 5:12 on a fateful April morning in 1906, the mammoth Pacific and North American plates sheared each other at an incredible twenty-one feet along the San Andreas fault, surpassing the annual average of two inches (“San Francisco Earthquake of 1906”) (“The Great 1906 Earthquake and Fires”). A few seconds later, the destructive earthquake occurred. The ground shifted at almost five feet per second, and the shaking could be felt all the way from southern Oregon to southern Los Angeles to central Nevada (“Quick”) (“The Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake”). In fact, the earthquake could be registered in a seismograph on Capetown, South Africa, an astounding 10,236 miles away...
Problem Statement: Earthquakes are a natual part of the environment. They do,however,cause devistating effect on the environment. Since Earthquakes can not be avoided, maybe there is a way to determine when they are going to occur so precautions can be taken to get people to safety and protect as much of
Hazards pose risk to everyone. Our acceptance of the risks associated with hazards dictates where and how we live. As humans, we accept a certain amount of risk when choosing to live our daily lives. From time to time, a hazard becomes an emergent situation. Tornadoes in the Midwest, hurricanes along the Gulf Coast or earthquakes in California are all hazards that residents in those regions accept and live with. This paper will examine one hazard that caused a disaster requiring a response from emergency management personnel. Specifically, the hazard more closely examined here is an earthquake. With the recent twenty year anniversary covered by many media outlets, the January 17, 1994, Northridge, California earthquake to date is the most expensive earthquake in American history.
motion would be well prepared for the next quake. But, a powerful quake struck the Bay Area
The earthquake with magnitude 9.0 and tsunami hit many regions of Japan and destroyed everything on its ways. The effects could feel over the world. Tsunamis hit Pacific coastal lines in many countries. Numerous people died, missing, or homeless. People lived in shelter, without clean water, power, telecommunication, etc. Japan is still recovering from the damages with the help of foreign relief. Radioactive from the meltdown and the aftermath debris affects the global environment. Learning the mega-thrust earthquake will help us improves the warning system that could save people and avoid serious
The death toll climbs to over 10,000 and is still rising (Branigan 2). The disaster in Japan began without warning on Friday March 11, 2011 at 2:46pm with a 9.0 magnitude earthquake, the strongest ever recorded in the country (Fackler 3). A massive thirty-three foot high tsunami, generated by the earthquake, swept over lands in northern Japan, taking objects and debris with it. To make matters worse, the tsunami caused the cooling systems at several nuclear power plants to fail. The disaster in Japan was a tragic event, and it had a plethora of causes and effects.
Earthquakes belong to the class of most disastrous natural hazards. They result in unexpected and tremendous earth movements. These movements results from dissemination of an enormous amount of intense energy in form of seismic waves which are detected by use of seismograms. The impact of earthquakes leaves behind several landmarks including: destruction of property, extensive disruption of services like sewer and water lines, loss of life, and causes instability in both economic and social components of the affected nation (Webcache 2).