The Great Shake-Out, Alert Systems – California Prepares for Earthquakes

 

FRESNO, CA (KMJ) – With the Great Shake-Out, and Alert Systems, California is preparing for earthquakes.

Coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the 6.9 Loma Prieta quake that ravaged the Bay area in 1989, a magnitude 3.7 quake struck Thursday, just before 8: 00 a.m. south of Hollister.

It was the third day in a row that the area had seen a quake.

With nerves already rattled, Cal Tech scientists published a report that could make many Californians uneasy.

The study published Thursday in the journal Science are finding unprecedented movement in a fault line that could produce a magnitude 8.0 earthquake.

 

USGS Earthquake Science Center Mobile Laser Scanning truck scans the surface rupture near the zone of maximum surface displacement of the magnitude 7.1 earthquake that struck the Ridgecrest area. Credit: USGS / Ben Brooks

 

The 160-mile-long Garlock Fault has been moving for the first time on the record.

New satellite radar images which are visible from space, show the warped land on the northern edge of the Mojave Desert.

Cal Tech scientists say the 7.1 and a series of quakes at Ridgecrest have destabilized nearby faults.

On Thursday, hoping to give a heads-up to residents, Governor Gavin Newsom rolled out the nation’s first statewide earthquake shake-alert system, offering alerts similar to the Amber Alerts.

The system was designed by UC Berkeley and funded through the California Office of Emergency Services,

Also Thursday, millions were taking part in the great Shake-Out Exercise at 10:17 am, to drop, cover & hold on.

 

Click to hear the report by KMJ’s Liz Kern: