AMU Emergency Management Public Safety

Federal Budget Helps Fund West Coast Earthquake Alarm System

By David E. Hubler
Contributor, EDM Digest

Analysts examining the new federal budget agreement in Congress this past Sunday have concentrated on big-ticket items. These items include the increase in defense spending and the absence of any funding for President Trump’s wall along the Mexican border.

However, little attention has been paid to one of the smaller items in the budget – a $10.2 million allocation for a new West Coast earthquake early-warning network based in California. To West Coast residents and those in California in particular, the money is well spent.

The “ShakeAlert” network is being built under the auspices of the U.S. Geological Survey. Caltech, UC Berkeley and the universities of Washington and Oregon are providing additional assistance, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Local Seismologist Says ‘Quakes Happen in California Every Week’

Less than 24 hours after the budget deal was announced, a shallow-magnitude 3.0 earthquake struck Santa Monica, West Los Angeles and parts of the San Fernando Valley late Monday night. These “quakes happen in California every week,” Dr. Lucy Jones, a seismologist, told the Times on Tuesday.

Earlier this spring, 36 members of Congress urged their fellow lawmakers to increase federal funding for the warning system to $16.1 million a year. That’s the estimated annual operating and maintenance costs of the system once it is fully built, the L.A. Times explained.

Officials estimate it will cost $38.2 million to complete the system, according to a statement from Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank). Schiff is an advocate for fully funding the early warning system.

About the Author

David E. Hubler brings a variety of government, journalism and teaching experience to his position as a Quality Assurance Editor at APUS. David’s professional background includes serving as a senior editor at CIA and the Voice of America. He has also been a managing editor for several business-to-business and business-to-government publishing companies. David has taught high school English in Connecticut and at Northern Virginia Community College. He has a master’s degree for Teachers of English from the University of New Hampshire and a B.A. in English from New York University. David’s book, “The Nats and the Grays, How Baseball in the Nation’s Capital Survived WWII and Changed the Game Forever,” was recently published in paperback by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

David E. Hubler brings a variety of government, journalism and teaching experience to his position as a Quality Assurance Editor. David’s professional background includes serving as a senior editor at CIA and the Voice of America. He has also been a managing editor for several business-to-business and business-to-government publishing companies.

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