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November 1, 2007
Earthquake
OK - I have had a few people say to me: "Why would anyone want real time information delivered to their phone?
Here's a personal experience. I was in Monterey California and sites across Southern California for the past two weeks. You might have heard that there have been fires and earthquakes there lately.
On Tuesday night this week there was a 5.6 earthquake that bounced Monterey. I was at dinner there (almost on the first anniversary of my experience of the 6.7 bounce in Hawaii) and several friends cel phones beeped. Almost instant confirmation. All week I met people who had their phones set to track fires near their homes as well using GIS. When I was at ALA in New Orleans a while back I had my phone set for diaster warning alerts from hurricanes and floods. Why not? When I left Monterey on Oct. 31, I just missed the big aftershock that delayed a lot of planes but many cel alerts meant that some folks were better informed about the delay than others. Some colleges, schools and universities are experimenting or implementing early warning alerts as well - shooters, fires, gas leaks, earthquakes, tornadoes, etc. I worry about my fright and flight response - how can I know which direction to run and when?
Gary Price was one of the those who showed us what he does. Mr. Real Time Info guru gets an alert from the USGS when an earthquake happens. You can also check out the real time earthquake map on Ask.com
I hear that there is a 5% chance of a big one after earthquakes like this and this most recent fault shift is at 139 years since it's 140 year average big one. It's just stats but I somehow feel safer with real time alerts than those TV tests of the early warning emergency management system.
Here's what an earthquake alert looks like:
----- Forwarded message from ens@usgs.gov -----
Date: Wed, 31 Oct 2007 03:15:11 +0000 (GMT)
From: USGS ENS
Reply-To: ens@usgs.gov
Subject: 2007-10-31 03:04 (Ml 5.6) NORTHERN CALIFORNIA 37.4 -121.8
To: gary@resourceshelf.com
== PRELIMINARY EARTHQUAKE REPORT ==
Region: NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
Geographic coordinates: 37.432N, 121.775W
Magnitude: 5.6 Ml
Depth: 9 km
Universal Time (UTC): 31 Oct 2007 03:04:54
Time near the Epicenter: 30 Oct 2007 19:04:54
Local standard time in your area: 31 Oct 2007 03:04:00
Location with respect to nearby cities:
8 km (5 miles) NNE (32 degrees) of Alum Rock, CA
11 km (7 miles) E (91 degrees) of Milpitas, CA
15 km (9 miles) NE (45 degrees) of San Jose City Hall, CA
ADDITIONAL EARTHQUAKE PARAMETERS
________________________________
event ID : NC 40204628
This is a computer-generated message and has not yet been reviewed by a
seismologist.
For subsequent updates, maps, and technical information, see:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsus/Quakes/nc40204628.php
or
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/
CISN Northern California Management Center
U.S. Geological Survey
Berkeley Seismological Laboratory
http://www.cisn.org/ncmc.html
DISCLAIMER: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/ens/help.html#disclaimer
This email was sent to *********************
You requested mail for events between -90.0/90.0 latitude and
180.0/-180.0 longitude
for M5.5 at all times.
To change your parameters or unsubscribe, go to:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/ens
Can libraries be an epicenter of information about these tools? Do we have one set up to protect our branches?
Interesting, emerging technology use, not perfect, but better than ignorance.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at November 1, 2007 1:37 PM