U.S.G.S. earthquake early warning system could be in jeopardy

UPDATE 2/21/2018 5:55 p.m.: The state’s earthquake early warning system could be completed in the near future, if the money doesn’t run out. But according to President Trump’s proposed budget, there are cuts to the program. However, people are pushing the panic button yet.

Carol Johndrow was at Candlestick Park when the Loma Prieta earthquake struck on October 17, 1989.

“It just started shaking like crazy,” Johndrow recalled. “We looked ahead of us and we saw all the smoke coming up past the stadium, past candlestick. It was very calm. I think it was calm because we were playing Oakland and so they were aware of earthquakes and we were aware of them so there wasn’t a lot of scary freaky things.”

Decades later, technology has caught up and early warning systems can give people critical seconds to prepare for the earthquake.

We saw it last week in Mexico, when a magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit Oaxaca, south of Mexico City.

The U.S. Geological Survey has been working on the “Shake Alert” system for years. There are some 850 sensors installed along major fault lines across the West Coast, about a dozen in Monterey County near the San Andreas Fault. The U.S.G.S. said it’s about half the number they needs.

Once it’s up and running, third party app developers will take the data and use it to warn the public that a quake is about to hit.

Shake Alert is in beta testing right now. Monterey County is not part of it.

“The state does and we can get notified by them,” Emergency Services Manager Gerry Malais said. “So what I recommend to all of the Monterey County residents, to utilize our mass notification system with Alert Monterey and then you can, through our website sign up for Nixle also which is a cell phone notification. Then if we ever got any early notification from the state, we could pass that along to our county residents.”

The U.S.G.S. said it will take another $60 million to get the Shake Alert up and running, covering Washington, Oregon and California. But it has hit a snag. President Trump’s most recent budget proposal has zeroed out nearly $13 million in funding for the early warning system and staffing.

The same thing happened last year, but Congress made the money available.

“This has happened before, last year they zeroed it out and on a very bipartisan basis, this Congress said, ‘Nope, this is important, we’re going to fund it’ and we did,” Rep. Adam Schiff said. “So I’m optimistic we’ll be able to once again restore this funding.”

Part of the Shake Alert system could be ready to go later this year.

Monterey County’s Emergency Manager wants to remind folks to be prepared for anything.

“Whether their home or their office to make sure it’s safe, that things aren’t going to fall on them,” Malais explained. “They know where they’re going to go if the shaking starts, under a table or under a doorway, someplace safe. Do they have a plan with their coworkers or their family? Where are they going to meet so they know everybody is safe and they can look for people who are possibly missing? Do they have a personal plan after the shaking to survive and be resilient? Do they have enough food and water, do they have enough gas in their vehicles? Is their house safe, do they know how to turn off their gas and their electricity?”

ORIGINAL POST: Funding for the U.S Geological Survey’s earthquake early warning system could be in Jeopardy. The President’s recently released proposed budget cuts money from the program.

The USGS installed about 850 sensors along major fault lines across the West Coast. Officials said they need about 1,700 sensors. There’s enough funding to continue developing the “Shake Alert” system through this year but after that it’s hard to say.

The President proposed budget cuts $13 million in funding. This exact thing happened last year but congress made that money available.

“This has happened before, last year they zeroed it out and on a very bipartisan basis, this congress said, nope, this is important, we’re going to fund it and we did,” said Rep. Adam Schiff.

The Monterey County Office of Emergency Services said they don’t get the “Shake Alert” notifications but do get alerts from the state. Monterey County OES said they are able to warn people of an earthquake through it’s nixle or alert Monterey notification system which is why they want to push people to sign up.

According to the USGS, it would take another $60 million to get Shake Alert up and running at 100 percent, covering Washington, Oregon and California. They believe they could do limited public alerts later this year.

KION’s Mariana Hicks has the full story at 6 p.m. on News Channel 5, 46.