In a recent article for EARTH Magazine, Jennifer Strauss – external affairs officer at the Berkeley Seismological Laboratory (BSL) – writes about the importance of an earthquake early warning system as a "vital [tool] that could save many lives."
The MyEEW app is an earthquake early warning app created by the BSL research team with this purpose in mind. The app – now in beta testing as a part of an Earthquake Early Warning project to make such systems a statewide reality – comes with a bright and glowing orange interface and "shaking" features. It aims to alert people about how many seconds they have to prepare for the arrival of an earthquake, and what safety precautions to take.
(Photo : Earth Magazine)
"The good news for people on the U.S. West Coast is that earthquake early warning (EEW) is making progress along the path from being a good idea to becoming reality — hopefully, it will be a reality before the next major earthquake," Strauss writes.
The app looks to mimic the intensity of shaking caused by an earthquake (depending on the proximity to its epicenter). Given the propensity of natural disaster-related information to spread quickly, a limited rollout of the app would also do a lot of good, even if everyone doesn't personally receive the alert.
The app will soon release exclusively on Android phones.
