MyShake earthquake warning app launches in Washington

SEATTLE — Washington took a big step Wednesday toward alerting people before the ground starts shaking in an earthquake.

The MyShake app, developed in California, just launched in Washington, bringing a new method of delivering an earthquake early warning in addition to the wireless emergency alerts that started going to phones last year.

“We want to make sure that people receive the alert so having multiple ways to receive the alert is a good thing,” said Maximilian Dixon of the state’s emergency management division.

Dixon said in California, the app sometimes delivered a warning faster than the wireless alert system.

Every second counts with ShakeAlert, which is triggered by initial seismic waves, before the second round of waves that cause damage.

MyShake is available in the Apple app store and on Google Play, and allows people to set a home location, or get alerts based on where they are at the time.

It includes a seismometer, so you can send earthquake data to scientists.

“The more people who download it and have it on their phones then the more mini-seismometers they have to detect earthquakes and it helps improve the system,” Dixon said.

If you have an Android phone, you can get alerts directly from the operating system.

MyShake sends warnings for earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 and above, while the threshold for wireless alerts is higher, at magnitude 5.

The state has a webpage that compares the options.

State officials say everyone should drop, cover, and hold on through an earthquake and that people on the coast should immediately go to higher ground in case of a tsunami.

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