How to React to an Earthquake

One cannot prevent an earthquake, but one can protect people and property from its impact.  Traditionally, this means designing and building structures that will survive the earthquake without damage (preventive actions).  Now, because of earthquake warning systems, contingency planning is becoming feasible.

Earlier this month, The Washington Post's Eric Niiler wrote about technology that can tell that an earthquake is about to happen.  The November 3 article ("Last-minute warnings may make quakes less destructive") states that a combination of ground sensors and satellite-based instruments can give a warning a minute or two before the earthquake occurs.

The technology works by detecting the P-waves that precede the earthquake's shock (the sound waves are an earthquake precursor).  The ShakeAlert earthquake early warning system for the west coast of the United States was developed by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and university partners.  According to Niiler, Chile, Mexico, China, Taiwan, Turkey, and Israel are developing similar systems.

Although a minute is not enough time to evacuate large buildings or a city, it is enough to shut down (or put into a safe mode) critical systems such as trains, gas lines, elevators, tunnels, and bridges.  Unfortunately, it is not enough time to send text messages to millions of people simultaneously, so earthquake alerts go only to emergency agencies, utilities, and similar high-priority organizations.

For more about ShakeAlert, see the fact sheet at http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2014/3083/pdf/fs2014-3083.pdf