OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) – The State of California launched an app Thursday designed to help alert residents about earthquakes.
While the app will only give a short heads up before an earthquake hits, experts say that time can be crucial.
Governor Gavin Newsom used October 17, the 30th anniversary of the Loma Prieta Earthquake, to launch the MyShake app statewide, designed to give Californians at least a few seconds to prepare when the next big one hits.
Newsom said, “99.7 percent chance within the next 30 years that we will experience an earthquake greater than 6.7.”
The app is powered by the U.S. Geological Survey.
A primitive version was actually used in 1989 to warn search and rescue teams trying to free people from the Cypress structure. Mark Sogge with USGS said, “USGS scientists set up a temporary system that radioed alerts to alert the workers, whenever there was a significant aftershock that might shake the Nimitz.”
Developed at U.C. Berkeley, MyShake can provide up to 20 seconds of warning before the ground starts to shake from a nearby quake, enough time to take some kind of protective action.
CAL OES Director Mark Ghilarducci said, “When the earthquake begins, the ground motion sensors detect and gather information rapidly and allow the system to estimate the potential size and location of the earthquake.”
Richard Allen with U.C. Berkeley’s Seismology Laboratory stated, “So you may receive the alert before, during or after the shaking. However, when you get an alert or when you feel shaking, the reaction is the same. You drop, cover and hold on.”
While local and state officials urge everyone to download the app, they also say it should be considered just part of a larger emergency plan.
The 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake was a 6.9 magnitude quake.
It killed 63 people, 42 of them on the Cypress Freeway.
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