Posted on 08/29/2018 3:40:25 PM PDT by BenLurkin
As part of the $1.3-trillion budget bill approved by Congress and signed by Trump, officials approved $22.9 million for the project. That more than doubles the $10.2 million it got in the previous year's budget.
A seismic early-warning system for the West Coast has been under development for years by the USGS, the nation’s lead earthquake monitoring agency, but the project has remained short of funds.4
It’s estimated that building a full system covering the West Coast would cost at least $38.2 million, with about $16.1 million annually to operate and maintain it.
The USGS has said it planned to begin issuing limited public alerts from the system by the end of this year, as long as funding wasn’t cut. Southern California is one area where the network of seismic sensors is dense enough at present to begin early warnings.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Great! You have 3 seconds to prepare!
“Seismologist Lucy Jones told reporters at Caltech on Tuesday night that the system sent out a warning to her location in Pasadena three seconds before the shaking began.”
Three whole seconds.
“Great! You have 3 seconds to prepare!”
With current costs, that around $10 million per second.
Enough time for that surgeon to pull the scalpel out of your brain. Before the room starts jumping like a bounce house.
You failed to include this sentence which seems to change the nature of the event rather significantly.
Trump signed it but, perhaps, reluctantly.
Just think, most dogs will give a 1 hour warning for practically nothing.
You belittle it now. But, give it a few years of improvements and maturation and Million$ more, and I'm sure they can get it up to 4... perhaps even 5 seconds.
From the article:
Hospitals in California are testing audible notifications, broadcast from fire alarm equipment, so staff can take steps such as having surgeons engaged in operations removing scalpels from patients.
Condominium towers testing the system have been similarly rewired to give residents time to drop, cover and hold on before shaking arrives.
Some office buildings have also been wired to automatically bring elevators to the nearest floor, preventing people from being trapped after an earthquake.
Three seconds for tens of millions of dollars. Wouldn’t a canary be cheaper? I can understand the seconds helping by crash-stopping trains or nuclear reactors, but for most people, we’ll know the quake is here before the alarm is heard or acted on.
Yes - lots of stuff like that. I keep thinking that I should put an automatic gas shut-off valve on my house. It will turn it off when the P-wave hits. The destructive S-waves come in a second or two later.
Que the dog that is on security cam footage senses the earthquake 15 seconds before books stop falling off of the shelves...
And no where in the story does it provide the rate of occurrence of false alarms.
How many times has the earthquake warning machine activated only to find that there is no earthquake?
I can’t believe you people are mocking this development ....
We spend untold millions just to save one life and told it is worth it....(wiping away a tear)...and kitty cats and puppies too...
Potentially, thousands of lives can be saved....if we just spend enough money....
All kidding aside, sounds like money being spent on something worthwhile...
A little while ago I saw one with cats. But I could clearly see some movement before the cats started running around.
Excellent idea. You will make a fortune!
I thought she’d retired.
Or a mechanic to slide out from under a car. Or to run out from under an overpass, or hit the E-stop on a dangerous piece of machinery. Etc., etc.
A lot of people saw the Cat video a little while back. A room full of cats snoozing and everyone of them lifted their heads in snyc a few seconds before the quake. So just fill a room full of cats and put sensors on their heads. If X number of Cats raise their heads at the same time then a computer monitoring the sensors sounds the alarm instantly.
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