Be prepared before the next earthquake near you

Published on April 25, 2022

No one can predict when or where an earthquake will strike, but you can prepare yourself and your family before one hits. For California’s Earthquake Preparedness Month, don’t let earthquakes catch you off guard.

To ensure all Californians are earthquake prepared, the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) developed Earthquake Warning California, which is the nation’s first statewide earthquake warning system that provides several seconds of warning to mobile device users in the area before shaking occurs. Earthquake Warning California offers no-cost earthquake warning resources, including:

• MyShake app: A mobile app that can be downloaded for mobile devices at no-cost from Google Play and the Apple App Store. App location services must be set to “always on” so that ground sensors can alert those in the nearby area whenshaking is detected. 
• Android Earthquake Alerts: An earthquake warning system available to any new or updated Android devices that uses that same technology as the MyShake app. 
• Wireless Emergency Alerts: Text-like messages from the government during emergency situations. This includes: Presidential, Imminent Threat (fire, earthquake, floods, etc.), and AMBER alerts.