But now those attention-grabbing wireless emergency alerts are tackling one of the most challenging types of disasters to protect against: earthquakes. Enter ShakeAlert, an earthquake early warning system that the U.S. Geological Survey and several university partners are rolling out. Emergency Alert System on mobile devices. [Here’s how the Anchorage earthquake happened]In California, wireless emergency alerts will only be sent out for quakes with estimated magnitudes greater than a 5. That’s why USGS is working with FEMA so that earthquake alerts can be accompanied by their own specific tone.

Source: Washington Post February 08, 2020 16:02 UTC