Science
fromLos Angeles Times
15 hours agoShakeAlert sends false alarm about magnitude 5.9 earthquake in California, Nevada
A ShakeAlert false alarm mistakenly warned of a magnitude 5.9 earthquake in Carson City, Nevada, though no quake occurred.
Just after 8 a.m., Bay Area residents received a MyShake alert warning of magnitude 5.9 quake hitting east of Carson City, Nevada, close to the Lake Tahoe region. The quake also appeared on the USGS map of latest earthquakes. But within minutes, the report of the quake disappeared from the USGS page.
Scientists cannot accurately predict large temblors, and those that start offshore are even more difficult to track. But a study published Thursday in Science demonstrates how the same tech that brings you a high-speed internet connection could be used to better understand the massive quakes that rupture in the ocean, and also to improve alerts. The researchers used information from fiber-optic cables on land to quickly detect and map an enormous earthquake off the Humboldt coast last December.