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LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- State Senator Alex Padilla introduced new legislation Monday on a bill that could bring California its first early earthquake warning system.
A study published almost three weeks ago by the California Institute of Technology and Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and technology said a large earthquake could happen in the Los Angeles and San Francisco area.
On Monday Senator Padilla along with a group of seismologists talked about the need for an early earthquake warning system for California. Seismologists from the California Integrated Seismic Network said data would be processed through sensors throughout the state. The sensors would be able to detect the strength and progression of an earthquake and could give people up to a 60 second warning before any shaking is felt.
Padilla said the warning system could cost up to $80 million. Senator Padilla said getting a warning system would be worth the investment because the costs of damage for the 6.7 Northridge Earthquake was at least $13 billion and killed 60 people.
In 2008 the Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast released a study saying there will be a 99.7% likelihood of a magnitude 6.7 earthquake in California within the next 30 years.
Japan, Mexico, Taiwan, Turkey, Romania, Italy and China are the only countries that either have an early earthquake warning system or are in the process of getting one.
