Early Warning Labs Delivers the Only Commercially Licensed ShakeAlerts to People & Automated Systems Across Southern California during Recent M6.4 & M7.1 Earthquakes
The largest seismic event to hit the Southern California region in over 20 years rattled Los Angeles and surrounding communities with shaking that lasted over 30 seconds.
This was the first wide-scale test of earthquake early warning in a large seismic event and Early Warning Labs was able to successfully deliver warnings of 50+ seconds before the shaking was felt.
“This was the big test we have been preparing for the last 5 years. We are fortunate the earthquake was not closer to Los Angeles or another metropolitan area, the outcome would have been deadly. I’m proud of our team and our partner the USGS for working relentlessly getting the early warning system ready for this exact scenario. It’s bittersweet really, you never want to see a large earthquake happen, but it’s a great feeling to know our system works as designed and is ready to save lives.”
- Josh Bashioum Early Warning Labs Founder
“The ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning System and its over 50 partners in California, Oregon, and Washington continue to improve the delivery of ShakeAlerts to people and automated systems. Our first commercial license partner Early Warning Labs (EWL), has been a USGS partner since 2014 and they like other partners have worked in close coordination with us to implement solutions in many sectors including healthcare, schools, transportation systems, and in public buildings. EWL has also worked with us to develop and improve appropriate education and training so public safety is maximized.”
- Dr. Robert M. de Groot, USGS ShakeAlert Project Coordinator
July 4 – 6.4 Magnitude Quake
It was a wild 4th of July for residents near and around Ridgecrest, CA as a magnitude 6.4 earthquake hit at 10:33 am. Shaking was felt over a wide area spanning from Northern California to Phoenix and Las Vegas.
Early Warning Labs earthquake early warning system (powered by USGS ShakeAlert) functioned properly, stayed online, and was able to deliver alerts to both our commercial clients and mobile app users. EWL was the only commercially licensed USGS partner to successfully deliver early warnings during this recent shaking sequence.
Commercial Warning Delivered
Our shaking intensity threshold settings triggered two commercial responses in Los Angeles. Shaking was forecasted at an intensity 3 for a wide area of Los Angeles (weak to light shaking) with a ~50-second warning before the shaking started. An audio alert was played to all two-way radios and select PA systems at the corporate campus of a Los Angeles area customer. This specific installation protects over 50,000 individuals on any given day. An alarm was also triggered at a pilot Los Angeles County fire station along with our mechanical trigger to automatically open the fire station doors.
Firefighters were able to begin pulling the fire trucks out of the station before the shaking started.
Mobile App Warnings
Many of our QuakeAlert mobile app beta users were alerted with an intensity of 3 or higher (meaning they would experience noticeable shaking). Seconds of warning time varied between 27 and 48 seconds depending on the user’s location.
July 5 – 7.1 Magnitude Quake
Just 37 hours later at 8:19 pm a magnitude 7.1 earthquake shook the same area around Ridgecrest, CA and was felt as far away as San Francisco, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and even Southern Utah. This earthquake was 11 times larger than the event on July 4th.
The Early Warning Labs system functioned and delivered alerts properly to clients across Southern California.
Commercial Warning Delivered
The shaking intensity threshold triggered our commercial response again at the same corporate campus and LA County Fire Station. Shaking intensity was projected at an intensity 3 (weak to light shaking) with a 50-second warning before the shaking started. As before, an audio alert was played to all two-way radios and select PA systems and the alarm at fire station along with our mechanical trigger opened the fire station doors.
Firefighters were able to begin pulling the fire trucks out of the station before the shaking started.
Mobile App Warnings
Many of our QuakeAlert mobile app beta users were alerted with an intensity of 3 or higher. Seconds of warning time varied between 27 and 48 seconds depending on the user’s location.
About Early Warning Labs and Earthquake Early Warning
Early Warning Labs is the first and only official USGS ShakeAlert commercially licensed partner and has built a proprietary consumer and enterprise SaaS platform using the USGS ShakeAlert data feed. The USGS ShakeAlert System works by detecting an earthquake and issuing a ShakeAlert which includes information about estimated shaking.
Early Warning Labs delivers this ShakeAlert and allows for automated actions to take place on-site including the automation of mechanical interfaces and public audio alerts. These actions are currently used in a wide variety of situations including opening fire station doors, sending alerts out to hospital staff, alerting students to drop, cover and hold, and many more.
Media Contacts:
Josh Bashioum
CEO, Early Warning Labs
(424) 238-0060
[email protected]
Chase Rief
CMO, Early Warning Labs
(714) 357-6791
[email protected]
Brainchild: Seconds Count (Josh Bashioum & Chase Rief, Early Warning Labs) from Brainchild on Vimeo.
