In California’s Coachella Valley around Palm Springs, a state-of-the-art, first-in-the-world earthquake early warning system in now installed and operational. Twelve locations are now in place with 120 sites planned, all meant to detect an earthquake and give people a chance to get under a table, or in the case of a fire station, get the engines outside of the building.
Created by a Silicon Valley startup, QuakeGuard sensors are designed to detect the initial, or “P” energy waves given off by every quake, even though it’s only the later, or “S” waves that do all the damage. The time in-between the two waves varies depending on the proximity to the epicenter and as the first sensor closest to the quake goes off, it can offer advance notice – from a few seconds to a full minute– to other locations farther away.
The system can also be set to automatically open fire station doors, and water and gas valves for municipalities could be shut off. Back-up generators for hospitals could be turned on and, most importantly, warn school kids to duck and take cover. During a tour of a Palm Springs Fire Station, Tom Kirk from the Coachella Valley Association of Governments, says, “For this fire station, doors roll up; for a school, an alarm might sound, teachers tell the kids to duck and cover; for a hospital, maybe backup generators go on.”
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