“ShakeAlert” phone earthquake warning success in California

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More than 3 million Northern California residents received an early warning of the earthquake, giving them precious seconds to turn and cover before it hits on Tuesday. At least two people died in the 6.4-magnitude quake that left thousands without power and damaged homes and roads.

MediaNews Group/East Bay Times via Getty Images

The early warning was delivered via the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services’ MyShake app, as well as alerts pre-programmed into users’ Google and Android phones.

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Robert D. Groot, of the US Geological Survey’s ShakeAlert operations team, explained to the Los Angeles Times how the alert system works. In short, the ShakeAlert team uses seismometers that pick up an earthquake as it approaches the surface. This data is transmitted directly to the processing center, which converts it into alerts that are sent to users.

Alerts on Tuesday gave users up to 20 seconds to prepare, which may not sound like much, but it’s enough to take cover, and also to mentally prepare for what’s about to happen.

Twitter user @MtShasta wrote in part: “Thank goodness for the vibrating alert! I would have fainted otherwise! 8+ 2nd vibrating alert warning! Awesome!”

Thank goodness for the vibrating alert! Otherwise, I would have passed out! 8+ Second warning of severe vibration! Fabulous! I’m on Mount Shasta! It was shaking here! ?

— NorthwestNomad (@MtShasta) December 20, 2022

Groot told the Times that the team was thrilled with this first test of the system. “I think it might be the biggest real event we’ve seen so far,” he said. “The system does exactly as it should. This is actually a huge success for us.”

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His view was echoed by Mark Gilarducci, director of the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, who told the outlet, “The system worked as well as we had hoped, and [as] We’ve been working on the design.”

If you live in an earthquake-prone area, an alarm app might be a better use for your phone storage than Fruit Ninja.

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