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Tsunami warning ends for B.C. after large earthquake strikes off Alaska

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Re: Tsunami warning ends for B.C. after large earthquake strikes off Alaska

#81

Post by influx »

koheripbal wrote: post #67
oasisbob wrote: post #63

Since the danger seems to be receding -- I hope NWS & related agencies can use this as a good drill to fix their web properties. Tsunami.gov couldn't handle the load, and many other official links (like mobile.weather.gov) just dump you into a government shutdown notice. Cell.weather.gov isn't even resolving. I'm sure someone thought the critical products would still be easily available even with a government shutdow…

Why would a website go down during a government shutdown? It actually takes more work to turn it off, doesn't it?

Quite honestly these agencies use it as an example of the value they provide by shutting down unnecessarily. I don’t really blame them though.

Re: Tsunami warning ends for B.C. after large earthquake strikes off Alaska

#83

Post by silencio »

koheripbal wrote: post #69
robtaylor wrote: post #55

https://twitter.com/SF_emergency/status/955764708442714113 San Francisco Department of Emergency Management has tweeted that people within three blocks of the coast or five blocks of the San Francisco Bay should be prepared to evacuate. Tsunami Watch for #SF. If you are w/in SF & 3 blocks of the Pacific Coast or w/in 5 blocks of SF Bay, PREPARE TO EVACUATE SO YOU ARE READY IF EVACUATION IS NEEDED. Check on neighbors…

Is Twitter really the official way to notify people of danger? Or is there also a cell phone warning system?

There are multiple notification systems available, I find that the twitter account tends to have a lot more info about hyperlocal and situational events vs the text-based system. I've just never straight up heard the outdoor one go off except for tests.

Folks in SF that want to sign up for the texts can do so here: http://sfdem.org/public-alerts

Re: Tsunami warning ends for B.C. after large earthquake strikes off Alaska

#84

Post by devscreen »

ghaff wrote: post #79
koheripbal wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is Twitter really the official way to notify people of danger? Or is there also a cell phone warning system?

How would they know cell phone numbers? Where I live they call landlines for emergency alerts but there's no other way to specifically target residents.

How do amber alerts work? When I lived in SF I got SF-related alerts. I don't know enough about how they work - but it sounds like tech that could be re-used for major emergency alerts.

Re: Tsunami warning ends for B.C. after large earthquake strikes off Alaska

#85

Post by scentoni »

ghaff wrote: post #79
koheripbal wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is Twitter really the official way to notify people of danger? Or is there also a cell phone warning system?

How would they know cell phone numbers? Where I live they call landlines for emergency alerts but there's no other way to specifically target residents.

The state can broadcast emergency messages, it doesn't need to send them individually to some database of cell phone numbers.

Alert About Missile Bound for Hawaii Was Sent in Error, Officials Say https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16140761

Re: Tsunami warning ends for B.C. after large earthquake strikes off Alaska

#86

Post by silencio »

ghaff wrote: post #79
koheripbal wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is Twitter really the official way to notify people of danger? Or is there also a cell phone warning system?

How would they know cell phone numbers? Where I live they call landlines for emergency alerts but there's no other way to specifically target residents.

If it was a big deal, beyond the opt-in SF text alerts, there's a thing called Wireless Emergency Alerts. It's geographically targeted. It's basically like Amber Alerts going to your phone except for imminent emergencies.

There has been some controversy about the timing and use of WEAs for evacuations for the big wildfires in California recently, but I imagine it's hard to balance alarm fatigue with the need to warn people.

Re: Tsunami warning ends for B.C. after large earthquake strikes off Alaska

#87

Post by scentoni »

In case you're wondering whether an Alaskan earthquake could cause damage in California, the answer is yes. The tsunami from the 1964 Good Friday earthquake in Alaska obliterated the port of Crescent City:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crescent_City,_California#Tsun...

Re: Tsunami warning ends for B.C. after large earthquake strikes off Alaska

#88

Post by bitwize »

koheripbal wrote: post #69
robtaylor wrote: post #55

https://twitter.com/SF_emergency/status/955764708442714113 San Francisco Department of Emergency Management has tweeted that people within three blocks of the coast or five blocks of the San Francisco Bay should be prepared to evacuate. Tsunami Watch for #SF. If you are w/in SF & 3 blocks of the Pacific Coast or w/in 5 blocks of SF Bay, PREPARE TO EVACUATE SO YOU ARE READY IF EVACUATION IS NEEDED. Check on neighbors…

Is Twitter really the official way to notify people of danger? Or is there also a cell phone warning system?

The national and state emergency alert systems have a cellphone program. You should get cellphone alerts in an emergency (I get them for flooding, AMBER alerts, etc.).

Re: Tsunami warning ends for B.C. after large earthquake strikes off Alaska

#90

Post by njarboe »

jofer wrote: post #74

What's really wild about this is that it's actually a strike-slip earthquake, based on the focal mechanism (e.g. https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us2000cmy3... ) Given how big it is, I'm extremely surprised that it's stike slip. Furthermore, given the area (shallow and very near a subduction zone), anyone would immediately guess that it was a megathrust earthquake, and therefore likely to produce a t…

A 7.9 is quite large. That is about the maximum magnitude that the San Andreas fault produces and similar in size to the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
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