Mexico earthquake triggers discussion for statewide early warning system
The death toll is on the rise after Mexico’s 7.1-magnitude on Tuesday, which has triggered talks of an early-warning system in California.
Sergio Gutierrez, a local whose family survived the devastating earthquake says he was concerned to hear about Mexico’s warning system.
“They did have a system in place that was supposed to warn about 30 to 40 seconds before the actual quake and I did hear there was a delay.”
Earthquake early warning systems have been a hot topic in the Golden State, with researchers saying it would benefit if a major earthquake were to strike.
“If you trained subpopulations, and had mechanical applications like automatically shutting down nuclear power plants or automatically putting the brakes on fast-moving trains in the state, in an area where an earthquake early warning system were issued, or you can easily train children in schools when an earthquake early-warning alarm sounds itself,” said Dennis Mileti, professor emeritus at the University of Colorado.
Local emergency management leaders in Rancho Mirage say ground sensors throughout the valley play a vital role in keeping everyone aware.
“When an earthquake hits, it will trigger those sensors and down the line on the earthquake fault, you may get 90 seconds or as much as 2 minutes that an earthquake is coming,” said Britt Wilson, Emergency Services Coordinator for Rancho Mirage.
Some fire stations throughout the valley also have sensors to automatically open the gates, ensuring first responders would get out if a earthquake were to happen.
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