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Seismo Lab
Earth & Planetary
UC Berkeley



Seconds count

Richard M. Allen
University of California, Berkeley

Nature, 502, 29-31, doi:10.1038/502029a, 2013

Download a preprint: Allen-EEW-Nature-2013.pdf


The United States should install an earthquake early-warning system now — and before the next big one hits, says Richard Allen

The United States will be hit by a major earthquake causing hundreds of fatali- ties within my lifetime. Whether it will be in 20 years, 2 years, or tomorrow, we do not know. Such an event will prompt the country to implement a public earthquake early-warning system, giving people seconds or minutes to prepare for the shaking. Rather than waiting until the next big quake galva- nizes political action, I believe that we must build an alert system now. more...