[EAS] Earthquakes on EAS?

Thu Feb 24 10:23:56 CST 2011

Re: Quakeguard

Interesting, but apparently the sensors are not far away from the area they are supposed to protect, unlike sensors in Mexico City that are some distance from that area's most serious seismic threats . Seismic waves travel at speeds measured in kilometers per second. If you are 5 km. from a sensor you might, best case, have 5 seconds, worst case less. Enough time to start a fire house door opening, but maybe not enough time for the door to open all the way.

If this is a pay service, I wonder if you can get your $$ back if the fire house door doesn't open all the way before the door jams?

Richard

> On Feb 23, 2011, at 11:17 PM, Adrienne Abbott wrote:
> 
>> Questions how do you think we’re going to receive these messages?  
>> What does “QuakeGuard” envision as the distribution system for these  
>> alerts? Would they provide the input to the CAP server? Is it  
>> realistic to expect today’s EAS to push out these warnings in 15  
>> minutes? Can broadcasters do that? We do have an Event Code for  
>> earthquakes should it be a mandatory code? Should that decision be  
>> made at the state level or at the federal level? Will state plans  
>> have to be re-written again to accommodate the earthquake code?  
>> California, Alaska, Nevada and Hawaii are all aware of earthquake  
>> dangers but no state is immune is it more important to install these  
>> warning systems in states like New York and Missouri where quakes  
>> are rare or in the West where quakes are common?
>> 
>> Adrienne
>> 
>> <http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/02/23/quake-early-warning-reality-california/ 
>>> http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/02/23/quake-early-warning-reality-california/
>> 
>> 
>> Earthquake Early Warning System a Reality in California
>> 
>> By Adam Housley
>> 
>> Published February 23, 2011 | FoxNews.com
>> What if you could be alerted before the only natural disaster that  
>> offers no warning actually hits? Even if the alert came just seconds  
>> sooner?
>> 
>> In California's Coachella Valley around Palm Springs, a state-of-the- 
>> art, first-in-the-world earthquake early warning system in now  
>> installed and operational. Twelve locations are now in place with  
>> 120 sites planned, all meant to detect an earthquake and give people  
>> a chance to get under a table, or in the case of a fire station, get  
>> the engines outside of the building.
>> 
>> Created by a Silicon Valley startup, QuakeGuard sensors are designed  
>> to detect the initial, or "P" energy waves given off by every quake,  
>> even though  it's only the later, or "S" waves that do all the  
>> damage. The time in-between the two waves varies depending on the  
>> proximity to the epicenter and as the first sensor closest to the  
>> quake goes off, it can offer advance notice  -- from a few seconds  
>> to a full minute-- to other locations farther away.
>> 
>> As former seismic safety commissioner Dennis Mileti tells us, “This  
>> is the No. 1 line of defense to accomplish the most basic objective  
>> in responding to an earthquake ... duck, cover and hold on, and it  
>> can motivate people to do that before the ground starts shaking.  
>> Every other natural hazard has warnings issued for it, <http://www.foxnews.com/topics/world/earthquakes.htm#r_src=ramp 
>>> earthquakes don’t. This is the way to provide some warning.”
>> 
>> The system can also be set to automatically open fire station doors,  
>> and water and gas valves for municipalities could be shut off. Back- 
>> up generators for hospitals could be turned on and, most  
>> importantly, warn school kids to duck and take cover. During a tour  
>> of a Palm Springs Fire Station, Tom Kirk from the Coachella Valley  
>> Association of Governments, says, “For this fire station, doors roll  
>> up; for a school, an alarm might sound, teachers tell the kids to  
>> duck and cover; for a hospital, maybe backup generators go on.”
>> 
>> If 15 or 20 seconds doesn't seem like much, consider this: During  
>> last April's huge Baja, Calif., quake, fire trucks in Calexico were  
>> trapped behind jammed fire station garage doors for almost 20  
>> minutes and had to cut their way through the doors before they could  
>> deploy and respond to people in trouble. Other stations had pieces  
>> fall from the ceiling and damage equipment. With QuakeGuard, this  
>> would not have happened because in as little as 15 seconds the doors  
>> could be opened and the engines driven outside.
>> 
>> Of the 12 sets of sensors currently set in place throughout the  
>> Coachella Valley, all tied to fire stations, they will soon be  
>> networked to every school in the area. Down the road, local  
>> officials see it linked to hospitals, private businesses and even  
>> people's homes. Eventually, the designers would like to see it  
>> become like another utility, with alarms installed in every home  
>> willing to fork over a minimal monthly "subscription" fee. At this  
>> point, it costs between $1 million and $3 million to install such a  
>> network throughout a community, and there are four others in various  
>> stages: San Diego, the Bay Area, the Antelope Valley and Hawaii.
>> 
>> A mobile system is also in development and would be essential for  
>> rescue crews that deploy to places like <http://www.foxnews.com/topics/world/haiti.htm#r_src=ramp 
>>> Haiti or Chile when an aftershock hits. A few seconds could get  
>> rescuers out from under the rubble and thus out of harm's way. Also,  
>> if you think this a California centered story, think again. Major  
>> earthquakes have struck throughout the United States, and places  
>> like St. Louis and even New York City are in harm's way.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
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> 
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