03-17-2011, 07:42 AM
People have mentioned signing up for the civil defense alerts, which is a great idea. I got a phone call when the warning went out.
But I was already on top of the concerns, thanks to my subscription to worldwide quake notifications via USGS. Just before 8 pm, the email came in of the Japan quake, which was originally 7.9 and soon revised upwards to the high 8's.
Then the tsunami watch email came through at the same time. As part of my quake subscription, I get emails of all bulletins issued by both the Pacific Region Tsunami Warning Center and the West Coast warnings.
Here's the link to sign up for the notifications:
https://sslearthquake.usgs.gov/ens/
You can customize the regions of interest and the magnitude of quakes.
I've been subscribed for years now. I find it fascinating to see how many quakes occur around the world.
But for your own safety, living on this island in the Pacific Ring of Fire -- if you live in a tsunami zone, or near one, it is not the best idea to be tuned out of TV, internet, and so forth, because you could go to bed and have a catastrophe unfold while you are unaware.
Having these emails come in is one way to put yourself on alert. These came in well before Civil Defense had made any announcement. They always will, because these emails are sent automatically when the quake monitoring equipment is triggered, whereas CD announcements require human deliberations and decisions, which takes some time.
If I get an email showing a BIG quake like this one, that tells me to TUNE IN, see if there is a tsunami watch or warning, start paying attention. Of course, if a quake happens in the middle of the night, it won't help, but the service did put me on notice for this and the Chilean quake last year. [
]
But I was already on top of the concerns, thanks to my subscription to worldwide quake notifications via USGS. Just before 8 pm, the email came in of the Japan quake, which was originally 7.9 and soon revised upwards to the high 8's.
Then the tsunami watch email came through at the same time. As part of my quake subscription, I get emails of all bulletins issued by both the Pacific Region Tsunami Warning Center and the West Coast warnings.
Here's the link to sign up for the notifications:
https://sslearthquake.usgs.gov/ens/
You can customize the regions of interest and the magnitude of quakes.
I've been subscribed for years now. I find it fascinating to see how many quakes occur around the world.
But for your own safety, living on this island in the Pacific Ring of Fire -- if you live in a tsunami zone, or near one, it is not the best idea to be tuned out of TV, internet, and so forth, because you could go to bed and have a catastrophe unfold while you are unaware.
Having these emails come in is one way to put yourself on alert. These came in well before Civil Defense had made any announcement. They always will, because these emails are sent automatically when the quake monitoring equipment is triggered, whereas CD announcements require human deliberations and decisions, which takes some time.
If I get an email showing a BIG quake like this one, that tells me to TUNE IN, see if there is a tsunami watch or warning, start paying attention. Of course, if a quake happens in the middle of the night, it won't help, but the service did put me on notice for this and the Chilean quake last year. [
]
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