LOS ANGELES (AP) - The city of Los Angeles is retiring its local earthquake early warning app and encouraging residents to download the statewide app that was subsequently deployed.
ShakeAlertLA was launched in 2018 and has been downloaded 920,000 times, the office of Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a statement.
The city app focused on Los Angeles County and was followed by the launch of MyShake, a statewide cellphone app that went live to the general public in late 2019.
Both apps rely on an earthquake detection and notification system developed by the U.S. Geological Survey and partners.
The purpose of the app is to give people time to take protective actions before harmful shaking arrives at their location.
The system does not predict earthquakes. Rather, it detects the start of an earthquake and calculates location, intensity and sends alerts to areas where shaking is likely to occur.
“Los Angeles leads the nation in earthquake resilience and ShakeAlertLA showed how we can harness technology to provide critical warning before an earthquake hits,” Garcetti said. “The next big one is not a matter of if, but when, and we can all do our part to stay prepared, resilient, and a few seconds ahead of the game by downloading the MyShake app now.”
ShakerAlertLA ends on Dec. 31.
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