UO geophysics professor Doug Toomey was among the scientists who traveled to the White House for Tuesday’s Earthquake Resilience Summit, which brought together policy makers, scientists and private stakeholders to advance the work surrounding earthquake safety and advance notice.
Media Coverage
Highlights of media coverage of the event, including interviews with Doug Toomey.
Scientists are Developing a Way to Warn You an Earthquake is Starting — The Huffington Post
Watch: White House Summit on Earthquake Resilience — OregonLive
Earthquake Warning System Ready, Just Needs Funding — KGW
Earthquake Detection System Could Provide 3-Minute Warning Before ‘Big One’ — KATU/KVAL
Eugene Mayor Attends White House Earthquake Resilience Summit — KEZI
The Underground Network That Could Warn California of ‘The Big One’ — The Daily Mail
Toomey, who also is the lead investigator for the Oregon component of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, spoke to media about an earthquake early warning system. He also talked about the need for ongoing funding to create a system that would be used by the general public in a way similar to weather or Amber alerts.
At the summit, the Obama Administration announced new commitments related to earthquake safety, including an executive order for enhanced seismic safety of federal buildings and continued development of ShakeAlert. ShakeAlert is a West Coast early warning system being developed by U.S. Geological Survey and a coalition of universities — the UO, University of Washington, California Institute of Technology and University of California, Berkeley.
The federal budget passed in December included $8.4 million for further development of the system.
Locally, the Eugene Water and Electric Board announced a commitment to add four seismic sensors to some of their critical infrastructure, which will be added to the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network. Gov. Kate Brown committed to increasing Oregon’s seismic readiness by hiring a state resilience officer.
Last year the state provided the UO a one-time appropriation of $670,000 to acquire and update 30 seismometers at 15 locations.
Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy, Lane County Commissioner Jay Bozievich, and Andrew Phelps, State of Oregon emergency manager, also attended the summit to highlight the need for earthquake preparedness.
—By Heidi Hiaasen, Public Affairs Communications