California gets $5M funding for quake warning system

The U.S. Senate has approved $5 million in funding to roll out an earthquake warning system across California next year.

The Los Angeles Times reports the allocation is included in the $1.1 trillion spending bill passed by the Senate this weekend.

Scientists have been developing the public alert system, which provides several seconds of warning after a fault ruptures, but their effort was hampered by funding problems.

A comprehensive statewide system would cost an estimated $80 million.

For the past several years, the U.S. Geological Survey and universities have tested a prototype that fires off alert to about two dozen groups in the state, mostly scientists and first responders. But by next year, access will expand considerably.

Officials will discuss the funding at the California Institute of Technology Monday.