where are the seismac gaps in washington state

What to do if you get an earthquake early warning for real “I haven’t got mine either,” a woman who joined the event replied. “A minute later and I still haven’t got my notification,” said a Seattle area man who opted into the test. The ShakeAlert test used the same warning tones and distribution system as Amber Alerts, so the conversation was interspersed with the sounds of blaring alarms as the test message propagated across the cellular networks of King, Pierce and Thurston counties.īut at least a third of the participants in Tobin’s breakout room of the Zoom watch party didn’t get the test alarm or got it too late to be useful. “Lovely!” enthused event moderator Mariah Jenkins of USGS, before other watch party participants piped up with their confirmations. Got it!” said Pacific Northwest Seismic Network director Harold Tobin, proudly holding up his smartphone to show viewers who joined a ShakeAlert test watch party that the alert came through seconds after transmission. Thursday’s targeted public test in Western Washington showcased the potential and excitement for the system as well as the fact that there are still some glitches to work out. Geological Survey and its state partners say they are ready to let ShakeAlert issue automated mass public warnings in the Pacific Northwest. It works because electronic signals travel much faster than rumbling spreads through the earth’s surface.Īfter many years in development, the U.S. It’s designed to give a heads up about shaking coming from an earthquake that is underway. The earthquake early warning system is known as ShakeAlert. The earthquake warning system - already operational in California - will launch for the general public in Oregon on March 11 and statewide in Washington in May. Mobile phones from Seattle to Olympia blared with an alarm for imaginary incoming shaking. Smartphone users who opted in to a test of the West Coast earthquake early warning system got an early taste on Thursday of what is to come.

Where are the seismac gaps in washington state