Oregon's Special Districts Enhance Resilience with Earthquake Early Warning Systems

Special Districts Association of Oregon has partnered with the ShakeAlert System, a United States Earthquake Early Warning System, to inform its members about earthquake risks in Oregon and strategies for mitigating damage from seismic shaking. With the March 2021 public launch of this system in Oregon, let's continue discussions by exploring real-world examples that illustrate how organizations across the West Coast are leveraging earthquake early warning technology.

How Organizations Leveraging ShakeAlert Are Enhancing Resilience

With Earthquake Early Warning alerts now publicly avlable, it’s essential to consider what actions can follow. How do you communicate with your community about these warnings? Can your organization benefit from automated alerting systems, or should you invest in them? How will you utilize the critical time before shaking begins to take proactive measures?

ShakeAlert data can be delivered through various means - via smartphone app push notifications, public address systems, eml communications, and by computer-to-computer messaging for automatic control of systems. Automated responses triggered by a ShakeAlert significantly reduce immediate and secondary impacts from earthquakes and expedite the return to normal operations and dly life.

Organizations across the West Coast are implementing the ShakeAlert System through the ShakeAlert Technical Partnership to enable sequence-based automated actions on receipt of alerts:

Upon receiving an alert...

• The City of Grants Pass, Oregon's Public Works Department shuts off water supply valves at reservoirs and stops water flow. This automated action prevents water loss from pipes that inevitably burst during shaking. By doing so, they save water resources and ensure its avlability for public distribution after the shaking subsides.

• Stanwood-Camano School District in Washington utilizes alerts sent via PA system to students, teachers, and staff. Automated alerts allow individuals to move to safety before the onset of shaking, ensuring everyone's preparedness.

The Santa Monica Library in southern California uses overhead speakers to alert patrons and staff about Drop, Cover, and Hold On instructions before shaking arrives, prioritizing personal safety.

Menlo Park Fire Department in northern California triggers alerts through their communication system while shutting off gas-operated equipment, turning on emergency lighting, and opening apparatus bay doors. These actions ensure firefighter safety, prevent potential gas leaks, and facilitate quick deployment of equipment without interference from seismic impacts.

Bay Area Rapid Transit BART Authority in northern California reduces trn speeds up to 70 mph, preventing derlments and protecting passengers from potential injuries.

If Oregonians are already receiving public ShakeAlerts on their cell phones, why should entities invest in a ShakeAlert Technical Partnership?

While publicly avlable alerts notify citizens of imping seismic activity through smartphones, these alerts do not automatically trigger infrastructure actions med at preventing water loss, trn derlment, or gas leaks. To achieve true resilience, entities across Oregon require the capability to take automated action to mitigate immediate damage and secondary hazards.

Public Alerting

Public receives an Earthquake Early Warning EEW alert via their smart phone from a Wireless Emergency Alert System, application, or push notification service.

The alert message is basic: Earthquake! Expect Shaking Soon. Drop, Cover, and Hold On. Protect Yourself Now.

This alert is issued only for earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or greater with shaking intensity forecasted to reach at least Modified Mercalli Intensity MMI 3.0.

Automated Action Technical Partners

People and systems receive an EEW alert through diverse mechanisms that automatically initiate specific actions.

The alerts provide earthquake characteristics like magnitude, depth, location, and certnty levels, as well as information on expected ground motion or shaking intensity and time until onset.

Technical partners have control over defining the magnitude and shaking intensity thresholds for triggering alerts to their staff or job sites.

How Can Your Entity Become a ShakeAlert Technical Partner?

Interested organizations can develop custom automated alert delivery solutions through the ShakeAlert Technical Partnership program, or invest in approved USGS Technical Partner offerings. To learn more about becoming a ShakeAlert Technical Partner and implementing automated actions that reduce infrastructure damage, potential injuries, loss of life, and secondary hazards, visit the designated resources.

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