Thanks for the updare Chris! I'm sure lots can be done in 20 seconds. There's a story on the update for California system below - apparently, it should start data gathering this summer.

I like this quote:
"If the capital of the United States were Los Angeles, we would have had an early warning system a long time ago," said Tom Heaton, professor of earthquake engineering at the California Institute of Technology and developer of one of the test systems.

Also this:
Japan pioneered seismic early warning in the 1980s with a system that automatically halted its high-speed trains during major quakes. Mexico, Taiwan and Turkey followed, though their alert systems are much less complex.

Since 2004, Japan has been experimenting with an advanced system that warns a select group of 250 government agencies, businesses and schools. The government plans to expand the service this summer and eventually make it broadly available after educating the public about its limitations, said Makoto Saito of the Japan Meteorological Agency.

and:
The USGS project will test three experimental early warning systems — two developed by Caltech and one by the University of California at Berkeley. Initial funding will start at $250,000.

See full story below.

Canie

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