Entire U.S. West Coast Now Has Access to ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning System

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has announced the ShakeAlert earthquake early warning system is now available to more than 50 million people in California, Oregon, and Washington, the most earthquake-prone region in the conterminous U.S. With the debut of ShakeAlert-powered public alerting to mobile phones in Washington completes, the USGS and partners’ have completed the West Coast rollout of this mode of alert delivery to the public that began with California in 2019 and expanded to Oregon in March 2021. People in these three states can now receive alerts from FEMA’s Wireless Emergency Alert system, third-party phone apps, and other technologies. The ShakeAlert earthquake early warning system aims to save lives and reduce injuries by giving people time to take protective actions before potentially dangerous earthquake shaking arrives at their location. In addition to supporting public alerts to mobile phones, ShakeAlert system data has been used to develop applications that trigger automated actions, including slowing down trains to prevent derailments and closing valves to protect water systems. Read more at the USGS.