The largest seismic event to hit the Southern California region in over 20 years rattled Los Angeles and surrounding communities with shaking that lasted over 30 seconds.
This was the first wide-scale test of earthquake early warning in a large seismic event and Early Warning Labs was able to successfully deliver warnings of 50+ seconds before the shaking was felt.
“This was the big test we have been preparing for the last 5 years. We are fortunate the earthquake was not closer to Los Angeles or another metropolitan area, the outcome would have been deadly. I’m proud of our team and our partner the USGS for working relentlessly getting the early warning system ready for this exact scenario. It’s bittersweet really, you never want to see a large earthquake happen, but it’s a great feeling to know our system works as designed and is ready to save lives.” – Josh Bashioum Early Warning Labs Founder
“The ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning System and its over 50 partners in California, Oregon, and Washington continue to improve the delivery of ShakeAlerts to people and automated systems. Our first commercial license partner Early Warning Labs (EWL), has been a USGS partner since 2014 and they like other partners have worked in close coordination with us to implement solutions in many sectors including healthcare, schools, transportation systems, and in public buildings. EWL has also worked with us to develop and improve appropriate education and training so public safety is maximized.” – Dr. Robert M. de Groot, USGS ShakeAlert Project Coordinator
July 4 – 6.4 Magnitude Quake
It was a wild 4th of July for residents near and around Ridgecrest, CA as a magnitude 6.4 earthquake hit at 10:33 am. Shaking was felt over a wide area spanning from Northern California to Phoenix and Las Vegas.
Early Warning Labs earthquake early warning system (powered by USGS ShakeAlert) functioned properly, stayed online, and was able to deliver alerts to both our commercial clients and mobile app users. EWL was the only commercially licensed USGS partner to successfully deliver early warnings during this recent shaking sequence.