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Residents of King, Pierce and Thurston counties received a test wireless emergency alert. Author: Keely Chalmers Updated: 8:27 PM PST February 25, 2021
PORTLAND, Ore. Feb. 28 marks the 20-year anniversary of the Nisqually earthquake. It was centered near Olympia, Washington, but shook much of the Pacific Northwest.
To mark that upcoming anniversary, scientists in Washington sent out a test earthquake warning alert. Residents of King, Pierce and Thurston counties received a test wireless emergency alert. It was a public demonstration of the ShakeAlert earthquake early warning system.
The system relies on thousands of sensors both onshore and off. When an earthquake hits, those sensors will alert us that the quake is heading our way. But, scientists stress, the alerts will give only seconds warning. But it will be enough time to drop, cover, and hold on.
KUOW - ShakeAlert test part of long-awaited earthquake preparedness plan kuow.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from kuow.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
× By Benjamin Romano, The Seattle Times
Published: February 21, 2021, 6:26pm
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A cluster of small earthquakes far off the southern Oregon coast and atop Mount Rainier in recent days are common events, and would not have triggered a seismic warning system set for a test run later this week ahead of its rollout to the public this spring, a seismologist said.
“Neither of those sequences are of particular concern,” said Paul Bodin, research professor at University of Washington and manager of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network.
The ShakeAlert system, which is designed to give people and automated systems advanced warning before significant shaking starts, would not have sent an alert for either sequence “because no one would’ve felt them,” either because of their small magnitude or distance from population centers, Bodin said.
Q&A: ShakeAlert earthquake early warning system arriving in Pacific Northwest washington.edu - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from washington.edu Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.