The Ojai California Earthquake of August 20, 2023: Earthquake Early Warning Performance and Alert Recipient Response in the m5.1 Event
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake in California rarely generates more than momentary notice—a headline in local newspapers and a mention with footage on the evening news—then fades into obscurity for most people. But this earthquake which occurred near the city of Ojai is significant for seismologists, social scientists, emergency managers, policy makers and others who are engaged in implementing and improving earthquake early warning (EEW) technology and in assessing its value in public warnings. In this earthquake, ShakeAlert, the EEW system for the West Coast of the United States operated by the US Geological Survey (USGS), was publicly activated and, for the first time, a substantial number of those who received alerts provided feedback on various aspects of the alerts they received. To capture data related to public attitudes and assessments regarding this and future alerts, a supplemental questionnaire was developed and associated with the ‘Did You Feel It?’ (DYFI) earthquake reporting system, also operated by the USGS. The DYFI system received over 14,000 felt reports; 2,490 of these by people who received or expected to receive an alert prior to the onset of earthquake motion at their locations. This paper analyzes the aggregate results of these EEW user reports, touching on respondent’s situation upon receiving the alert, characteristics of the alert received and, perhaps most important, how the alert recipient responded if received prior to feeling earthquake motion. The new DYFI EEW supplemental questionnaire also inquired about respondent views of alert usefulness and preferences in future alerts. Our report provides a first glimpse of a range of behaviors, attitudes, and assessments by users of the recently implemented EEW system for the US West Coast.
Session: End-to-End Advancements in Earthquake Early Warning Systems - III
Type: Oral
Room: Tikahtnu Ballroom E/F
Date: 5/3/2024
Presentation Time: 09:00 AM (local time)
Presenting Author: James Goltz
Student Presenter: No
Additional Authors
James Goltz Presenting Author Corresponding Author jamesgoltz@gmail.com University of Colorado Boulder |
David Wald wald@usgs.gov U.S. Geological Survey |
Sara McBride skmcbride@usgs.gov U.S. Geological Survey |
Elizabeth Reddy reddy@mines.edu Colorado School of Mines |
Vincent Quitoriano vinceq@contractor.usgs.gov U.S. Geological Survey (Contractor) |
Jessie Saunders jsaunder@caltech.edu California Institute of Technology |
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The Ojai California Earthquake of August 20, 2023: Earthquake Early Warning Performance and Alert Recipient Response in the m5.1 Event
Category
End-to-End Advancements in Earthquake Early Warning Systems
Description