California's Earthquake Alert Systems and Their Efficiency

After the magnitude 4.4 earthquake in Highland Park, the efficiency of California’s earthquake alert systems can be discussed. MyShake is a platform developed by UC Berkeley, working with the US Geological Survey’s ShakeAlert. The derivative system relies on the high speed of modern communication systems, outrunning the seismic wavelength travelling through rock. The recent earthquake resulted in notifications from both platforms; however, the exact number of users receiving the alerts was unknown this time. Just last week, the systems reported more than 5.4 million notifications before the magnitude 5.2 earthquake in Bakersfield.

Both MyShake and ShakeAlert work with Android platforms, with both applications being present for every iOS user, while Android phones have had an earthquake alert system instilled within. ShakeReadySD is a program developed by San Diego County and is present within the SD Emergency application. All platforms are preset to alarm the users if the earthquake with a magnitude of 4.5 or higher is reported, the estimated intensity of shaking being weak or above. Users without smartphones can still rely on the US WEA system notifications for more considerable seismic activity.