Early earthquake warnings launched in Washington state, complementing the ShakeAlert system at the West Coast level

IMAGE: A team from the UW-based Pacific Northwest Seismic Network installed a new set of solar panels at the earthquake monitoring site in Enumclaw, Washington, on April 20, 2021. Seismograph, one … view more

Credit: Mark Stone / University of Washington

When the Big One hits, the first thing Washington residents may not notice is the ground shaking but their phone issues a warning. The United States Geological Survey, the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network based at the University of Washington, and the Washington Emergency Management District on Tuesday, May 4, will activate the system that sends early warnings about earthquakes throughout Washington state. This completes the launch of the three-state ShakeAlert system, an automated system that gives people who live in Washington, Oregon and California an advance warning of upcoming earthquakes.

“For the first time, an advance warning of an impending earthquake will be realistic in our region. Even just seconds up to a minute of warning are enough to prepare yourself and take cover – measures that may prevent you from being injured or even save you,” said Harold Tobin, professor of Earth and Space Sciences at the University of Washington. Director of the National Seismic Communications Network, which conducts earthquake monitoring in Washington and Oregon.

Once the system goes into operation on May 4, the first signs of an earthquake above 4.5 or 5 degrees, when vibration becomes noticeable indoors, it will trigger an alert and reminder to fall, cover and continue. Warning times range from a few seconds to tens of seconds depending on the user’s distance to the epicenter. The launch will be silent – there will be no testing on May 4.

Watch a related video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_g9vOSWLvw

PNSN operates a growing network of about 230 seismic stations in Washington and about 155 stations in Oregon providing data to ShakeAlert. When four or more of these devices detect unusual vibration, that motion is analyzed by computers, some on the University of Washington campus, that quickly calculate the magnitude and location of the event.

People connected to the wireless emergency alarm system (the same system that produces AMBER alerts), will now receive earthquake alerts for events of magnitude 5 or greater, using a similar interface. Alerts for events of magnitude 4.5 or higher will be integrated into Android devices, as screens will also display the approximate size and location of the earthquake. When people receive an alert, they should use the brief warning to request immediate protection, by following these safety guidelines. No downloads required – learn how to get alerts.

ShakeAlert, similar to current early warning systems in Mexico and Japan, began sending alerts to California residents in 2019 and to Oregonians in March. With the addition of Washington state, the system will now issue warnings to millions of people at risk of the largest potential earthquake in the lower 48 states – the Cascadia Subduction Zone rupture offshore, a 700-mile fault extending from Cape California. Mendocino to the tip of Vancouver Island, Canada (partially discovered through University of Wisconsin research). The warnings will also warn of potentially devastating earthquakes that are likely to occur sooner, on one of twenty cracks in the Earth’s crust in the Puget Sound region alone, or a deeper slide over the underlying ocean plate. The system works by detecting the first signs of an earthquake before the arrival of Earth-vibrating waves that move slowly but more damaging.

PNSN began testing the ShakeAlert system with select companies, facilities, and organizations in Washington and Oregon in 2015. Along with individual alerts on phones, the system will be available for organizations or companies to include in their contingency plans – for example, to shut down water valves or slow trains to prevent Derailment, stopping surgeries, or temporarily stopping sensitive equipment before vibration begins.

“Business in the pilot program used these alerts to shut off natural gas water valves, turn off rotating equipment and alert staff. We also partnered with Stanwood Elementary School, which linked the system to its PA system so students could conduct earthquake drills using ShakeAlert,” said principal. PNSN Communications Bill Steele, who coordinated regional test users.

Scientists at PNSN continue to improve the system. About 65% of the network’s planned earthquake stations are complete in Washington State. PNSN field teams will install more seismometers through late 2025 in places such as the Olympic Peninsula and eastern Washington.

“The network is successfully detecting earthquakes now, but that doesn’t mean we can’t improve them. We are continuing to install seismometers and improve algorithms to make alerts faster and more reliable, to give people more warning time and reduce the chance of any missing events or false alarms.”

The initial development of an earthquake warning system by three universities in the West Coast, including the University of Wisconsin, began a decade ago with funding from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Building the system was funded by Congress, with major grants administered by the US Geological Survey in 2015 and 2019, and completed by federal and state agencies working with a consortium of four West Coast universities: UW; University of Oregon University of California, Berkeley; And California Institute of Technology.

The Washington system has also secured government funding in the 2020-2021 budget. Special support for the Washington System also came from the MJ Murdock Charitable Trust, Amazon, Puget Sound Energy, and individual donors.

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For more information, contact Tobin at [email protected] or Steele at [email protected] and 206-601-5978 or PNSN ShakeAlert User Interaction Officer Gabriel Lotto at [email protected].

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! Is not responsible for the accuracy of the newsletters sent to EurekAlert! Through contributing institutions or to use any information through the EurekAlert system.

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