Senate Approves Boost For PNW Earthquake Warning System

OCEAN SHORES, WA - A megaquake along the Cascadia subduction zone will hit us someday. And local scientists are building a system that will, hopefully, let us know about that quake a few seconds or minutes before the shaking starts.

The Pacific Northwest Seismic Network's early-warning system could give Washington residents time to prepare for a megaquake or another damaging event. That effort got a boost this week the U.S. Senate approved the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program Reauthorization Act of 2018 on Tuesday. Now all it needs is President Donald Trump's signature to become law.

The PNSN rolled out its local ShakeAlert early-warning system to a group of pilot users in spring 2017. One of those pilots, RH2 Engineering in Bothell, has been testing the system to secure infrastructure like water and sewer lines.

How does ShakeAlert work? Earthquakes generate P and S seismic waves. The P waves travel faster than the destructive S waves, and so they trigger the warning system before the S waves hit. Even with just 30 seconds of warning, drivers could pull over on the highway, or utility companies could cut gas lines.

Compared to the benefit, the cost of an early-warning system is extremely low. The California early-warning system is estimated to cost $28 million to install and $17 million to operate per year, according to the PNSN. The law approved by Congress this week will supply about $112 million for earthquake safety programs nationwide.

Federal funding will help seismologists light up 1,700 stations in the alert network along the West Coast. Right now, only about 700 stations are online. That means some areas are blind to detecting destructive quakes.

Countries like Mexico and Japan already have early-warning systems. When the 2011 Tohuku earthquake hit Japan, residents got a warning 30 seconds before the shaking started. The ShakeAlert system along the West Coast is not available to the public yet.

U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal worked with Republicans to pass the House version of the bill back in September. She highlighted the urgent need for an alert system - before Cascadia or other local faults cause a catastrophe.

“National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program Reauthorization is the first step to ensure our states have the resources they need to prepare for earthquakes; states like mine that have been anticipating a catastrophic earthquake for many years,” she said in a press release.

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