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Funding Cuts Could Kill Earthquake Warning System

Jeff Reinke
1/27/2019 | 5 min read
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The past six weeks have brought the chaos of severe natural disasters to some areas of North America, not least of which was the tragic 7- and 8-point earthquakes that struck Mexico City and surrounding areas, causing catastrophic damage and death.

What a lot of people don’t know is that the losses from these earthquakes could have been a lot worse. That’s because, following an 8.0 magnitude quake in Mexico City in the mid-80s where 30,000 lost their lives, Mexico got to work on the world’s first early warning system for earthquakes. NBC News says it was this system that limited some of the effects of the most recent disaster, by allowing enough warning time for many citizens to move to safer areas.

It appears that the United States has also determined it prudent to help limit the impact of disasters occurring here, as experts expect California and the Pacific Northwest to face their own massive quakes in the coming decades. This concern has led the U.S. Geological Survey – or USGS – to work on developing a system it refers to as ShakeAlert.

While the name sounds like a product you’d discover at 3:00 AM on an infomercial, ShakeAlert is anything but a gimmick. The system uses sensors to detect the early activity that often precedes a quake but only causes minor tremors. The system is in “production prototype” phase on the West coast, and it is expected to be fully rolled out by 2018, but it has apparently already delivered positive benefits throughout the testing phase. Users have responded to alerts by shutting down transit systems, pipelines, and elevators – and even stopping delicate surgical procedures before a quake has the chance to cause stability challenges.

But the report warns that the USGS has been targeted for funding cuts, which means the future of ShakeAlert could be in jeopardy if it’s not recognized for the critical importance that it could offer for improving the outcome of these dire scenarios.

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