Earthquake is an alarm bell for improved warning systems

Written by Wesley Divocco, two hours ago

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CAPE TOWN – On Saturday, September 28, an earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale struck about 1,600 km off the coast of South Africa in Cape Town.

The Council of Geosciences (CGS) confirmed Sunday that it felt another earthquake at 9.12 in the morning. Thankfully, no one was injured in the process and the CGS later confirmed that there is no need to panic. The only reason for panic is a lack of communication. Is South Africa able to warn its citizens in advance of earthquakes and other imminent dangers?

The manner in which communications about recent events have been handled is a real concern. South Africa can learn a lot from countries like Mexico where such accidents are regular. Mexico has used technology to ensure its citizens get better information and warn them in advance about earthquakes.

Mexico City is one of the few places that has a public earthquake warning system. It was the first system of its kind in the world, and it was put into operation just six years after the 1985 earthquake that killed tens of thousands of people in the capital.

The Mexico City system, called Sasmex, began its life as a project in 1990, and has come a long way since then – it wasn’t until recently that it started operating in this complex way. A few years ago, Mexican officials realized Sasmex was not living up to its potential, and worked to develop a better system. The problem with earlier regimes was that different agencies and countries did not organize around the technology and infrastructure they had.

The system’s sensors were detecting hundreds of earthquakes every year, but they were not able to immediately notify people of an impending danger. The authorities realized that in the event of a major earthquake, everyone should be warned immediately, and this is what the new and improved system helped Mexico achieve over the past few years.

The Sasmex System just got smarter and more configurable. It can now be modified to ignore earthquakes that fall below a threshold. If an event less than 5.0 was measured on the Richter scale, no one would be notified. If an earthquake between 5.0 and 6.0 degrees is detected, only officials in the respective countries are notified, but the public is not notified directly. There is also a level of customization in being able to notify only those areas that need notification based on their distance from the epicenter. Once alerts are issued, tens of thousands of receivers in participating cities receive the signal.

Although South Africa has less earthquake risk, the recent accident should serve as a warning to better prepare for such an event. As Covid-19 has shown, countries have been surprised by the many risks that require citizens to be better informed early on. This highlights the need for better and better accessible communication systems to provide early warning not only for earthquakes but for any potential hazards.

This warning and data system can cover a variety of areas to avoid further communication failure when needed to save lives. There’s never been a better time to develop a dashboard with the power of AI and data to take all the risks. It might only save lives when another earthquake hits South Africa or some other great danger.

Wesley Diphoko is the editor of Fast Company (SA) magazine.

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