Free Republic

California could join Japan, Mexico and other earthquake-prone countries that alert residents to the approach of powerful shaking under a bill awaiting approval from Gov. Jerry Brown. The state Legislature advanced the bill that would create a quake warning system during Thursday’s last hours of its session. … The U.S. lags behind other nations in developing a public alert system, which provides several seconds of warning after a fault ruptures—enough time for trains to brake, utilities to shut off gas lines or people to dive under a table until the shaking stops. …

WASHINGTON – By the end of April, terror threats to the U.S. will no longer be described in shades of green, blue, yellow, orange and red, The Associated Press has learned.

The final trial of the new new national telephone warning system has been completed in Victoria. The new system, called the Emergency Alert System begins operation next week. More than 50,000 test messages were sent to phones in Torquay, Colac, the Dandenong Ranges and Maribyrnong as part of a trial that began on Tuesday. It allows text messages to be sent to mobile phones based on a billing address, and voice messages to landlines based on location. The Premier, John Brumby, says the system will allow emergency services to send 300 text messages per second, and 1,000 voice messages per...

India plans tsunami alert system The Indian government has announced plans for installing a tsunami early warning system in the wake of the Indian Ocean disaster. A minister said the country had had no warning of Sunday's giant wave which killed at least 7,000 in India alone. A US-made pressure recording system is to be laid on the ocean floor and linked to surface data buoys. The new system will be similar to that used in the Pacific Ocean and should also provide warnings of cyclones. "If the country had had such an alert system in place, we could have...