Monday’s Magnitude 5.2 Temblor found another success with California’s earthquake early warning system, with users in some areas saying they received alerts over the phone before they felt the shaking.
Alerts provided lead times that were sometimes extremely important. This is a key head-up in the event of a major earthquake.
“It was amazing! A great early warning!!!” a resident told X’s USGS ShakeAlert social media account. [shaking] Wave hit. Well done! “
Temblor was located near Julian, the mountain town of San Diego County.
An alert was heard in parts of Los Angeles before the shaking reached the city, as shaking from shaking travels at speeds at rock speeds, which is slower than the speed of modern communication systems. No major damage or injuries have been reported.
An image of an early warning of an earthquake that appears on the phone after the August 2024 earthquake.
(Robert de Groot / US Geological Survey)
The SHAKEALERT Earthquake Warning System, operating in California, Oregon and Washington, is operated by the US Geological Survey. The system relies on a vast array of seismic sensors to detect shaking as soon as it occurs. That information is sent to your computer and decide whether or not to send an alert, and where to send it.
People in Rancho Penasky, Santa Ana and Southern Orange counties in Camarillo, Manhattan Beach, Palm Springs, Riverside and around San Diego said they warned early of the earthquake before the shaking began, according to posts and interviews from local news outlets.
“Corona del Mar here. I got an alert about 5-10 seconds ago before a big shock. Great service,” X said.
“I got an alert a second before I felt it! I’m in Palm Springs! I was very impressed,” another user added.
“Shake Alert did that!! I got the phone…and I answered for over five seconds,” another wrote.
A geologist at the office of the California Geological Survey in Los Angeles also received an early warning notification on his mobile phone saying he was “ready to carry out the shaking.”
One of the fastest ways people can get early warnings about earthquakes is to download MyShake, a free app developed by UC Berkeley, which provides alerts in partnership with USGS and the California Governor’s Office. This app can be downloaded not only to iPhone, iPad, Mac computers, but also to Android devices.
Android phones also have an earthquake early warning app built in.
Over half a million people in California received early warnings through Myshake on December 5th due to a magnitude 7 earthquake 30 miles from the Humboldt County coast. And on December 9th, the magnitude 5.7 earthquake was mainly about an earthquake about 50 miles southeast of Reno, and was widely felt in Central California.
San Diego County also offers a free SD emergency app that includes Shakereadysd earthquake early warning tool.
Angelenos, who received the alert, said it generally increased the situation quite normal, especially for long-time residents. After getting “Drop. Cover. Hold” to X, she posted, “Frankly, I was scared.”
But that feeling can decrease as people become more familiar with the alert. For some, it’s helpful to know that the shaking they are feeling is in fact an earthquake. This way they can take protective actions such as falling under the desk, covering or holding them.
Early earthquake warnings are common in seismically active regions around the world, including Japan, Mexico and Taiwan.
Android phones and phones with MyShake or ShakereadySD app installed have the lowest earthquake early warning threshold. If tremors are estimated to be magnitudes above 4.5 and the intensity of the shaking at the phone’s position is expected to be “weak”, they are set to trigger an alert.
Shaking that strength can be noticeable to people indoors, especially on the upper floors of the building, and the car can sway slightly. Indoors, some compare the feeling of vibrations from passing trucks.
Those who don’t have a smartphone or have not installed the Early Warning app can elicit alerts on their phones, but only if a higher or greater shaking is projected at that location. These alerts, like amber alerts, are sent via a wireless emergency alert system.
However, the downside of relying on wireless emergency alerts is that it provides less information than alerts generated by the app.
There are settings that can be changed on your iPhone to improve the speed, accuracy and reliability of emergency alerts, Apple says. To do this, you can go to Settings, then to Notifications and turn on “Local Awareness.” Scroll to Government Alerts, then tap Emergency Alerts to go to options.
MyShake suggests on its website that “it can be fresh and ready to go. If you don’t use the app for a long time, the app can fall asleep.”
One easy way to do this is to click on the app when you notify someone else in the world of an important earthquake without an emergency warning sound. “Tap this notification and open the Myshake app to keep your app fresh and don’t have to resort to your own reminders.”
Myshake is available in six languages: English, Spanish, Tagalog, Korean, Vietnamese and Chinese. This is the last voice, using a traditional character. MyShake uses the first language that it supports from the device’s language and region settings, but on iPhone, you can change the language before going to Settings, Apps and select MyShake, then select your preferred language.
Times staff writer Grestohay contributed to this report.
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