Federal and state momentum behind earthquake preparedness is building. Here’s what facility operators should know.

The past few months have been busy on the earthquake preparedness policy front, and if you operate a hospital, school, fire station, or manufacturing facility on the West Coast, two developments deserve your attention.

California hospitals: the clock is ticking toward 2030

California’s hospital seismic safety requirements have been on the books since SB 1953 passed in 1994, but the real enforcement pressure is arriving now. The January 1, 2026 deadline for hospitals to submit seismic compliance plans to the Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) has come and gone. Hospitals that aren’t on track had to file delay applications along with a Patient Alternate Care Sites and Transfer Plan.

The next milestone is January 1, 2030. By that date, every general acute care hospital in California must either meet structural and nonstructural seismic performance standards (SPC 3+ and NPC 5), or the building gets demolished, converted to non-acute care, or replaced.

According to HCAI, only about 45% of hospitals statewide are on track to meet the 2030 deadline. RAND Corporation estimates the statewide cost of compliance at $143 to $176 billion. Some facilities have gotten relief through the newer SPC 4D pathway, which lets older buildings retrofit to a standard equivalent to SPC 4 rather than jumping all the way to SPC 5. Even with that flexibility, though, the financial and logistical lift is massive.

Here’s the thing about structural retrofits, though: meeting code is the floor, not the ceiling. A hospital can be structurally compliant and still have zero operational plan for those first seconds after shaking starts. Earthquake early warning (EEW) addresses that. ShakeAlert-integrated systems can trigger automated responses before strong shaking arrives. Think elevator doors opening so people don’t get trapped, or surgical teams getting an alert to pause a procedure. Backup generators can kick on. Hazmat lockdown protocols can activate. All before the worst shaking hits.

The Oregon Hazards Lab (OHAZ) ran a ShakeAlert Healthcare Resilience Workshop specifically focused on this problem. One recurring finding was that EEW technology works, but only when facilities have protocols in place to act on the warning. Hospitals often have different procedures for different units (maternity versus surgical versus ER), and those need to be mapped out in advance. The technology delivers seconds of lead time. What you do with those seconds depends on planning.

For hospital administrators working through seismic compliance right now, EEW integration is worth evaluating alongside structural work. It’s a fraction of the cost of a retrofit and addresses a risk that structural standards alone don’t cover: what happens to patients and staff in the seconds between the earthquake starting and the shaking reaching full intensity.

The Tsunami Preparedness Act signals growing federal investment

On March 12, the Senate Commerce Committee passed the Tsunami Warning, Research, and Education Act of 2026 (S. 3881). The bill, led by Senators Cantwell (D-WA), Sullivan (R-AK), and Murkowski (R-AK), reauthorizes NOAA tsunami programs at $30 million through 2030.

The bill has several notable provisions. It directs the Government Accountability Office to evaluate the nation’s preparedness for a Cascadia Subduction Zone event, which is exactly the scenario that would also trigger ShakeAlert across Washington and Oregon. It requires each Tsunami Warning Center to hire a dedicated Warning Coordinator to work with state, local, and tribal emergency managers. And it directs NOAA and FEMA to implement a strategy for improving tsunami preparedness based on GAO’s findings.

For anyone following earthquake early warning, the tsunami-specific funding is less interesting than what it implies. The Cascadia Subduction Zone is a 600-mile fault capable of producing a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and a tsunami that reaches coastal communities within minutes. When the federal government starts directing GAO to study preparedness for that scenario, it means more investment is coming for the detection and communication systems that underpin both tsunami and earthquake warnings. ShakeAlert’s planned expansion to Alaska (450 new stations, warning times of up to 73 seconds for large events) is part of the same trend.

Bipartisan support for natural hazard preparedness legislation is not something we see every day, and it’s worth noting when it happens.

What this means for facility operators

Both of these developments point the same direction. Federal and state governments are putting real money behind earthquake and tsunami preparedness, and the expectation that critical facilities will be prepared is only going up.

If you’re a hospital administrator in California, you’re already neck-deep in seismic compliance planning. EEW integration costs a fraction of a structural retrofit and covers a risk that building codes don’t: what happens to patients and staff in those first seconds.

If you run a school, fire station, manufacturing plant, or transit operation in California, Oregon, or Washington, the regulatory environment is heading toward more accountability for preparedness. It’s cheaper to plan now than to react later.

We help facilities integrate ShakeAlert-powered early warning into their existing building systems. If you want to talk through what that looks like for your operation, we’re easy to find.

Sources and further reading:

• HCAI Seismic Compliance and Safety
• RAND Corporation: Costs of Compliance for California Hospital Seismic Safety
• Senate Commerce Committee: Tsunami Preparedness Bill
• S. 3881 – Tsunami Warning, Research, and Education Act of 2026
• ShakeAlert Healthcare Resilience Workshop (OHAZ)
• Earthquake Early Warnings and Hospital Preparedness (Temblor)