Earthquakes may cause some people to flee the Golden State, but Richard Allen came to California precisely because of them. As a seismologist - a scientist who studies the geological causes of quakes - he saw UC Berkeley as the epicenter of cutting-edge research in the field.
Much of that is thanks to the Berkeley Seismological Laboratory (BSL), which operates a large suite of seismic stations across Northern California that ties in with the U.S. Geological Survey's network to alert the public to shaking throughout the state. As BSL's director, Allen oversees a large staff of experts on seismic sensors, data analysis and the state's most dangerous faults, including the Hayward Fault that runs through the UC Berkeley campus.
In this Research With Results video, Allen explains how the BSL's work helps keep Californians safe, while contributing to important earthquake-related research that advances our ability to identify the most hazardous faults. Perhaps BSL's most impactful contribution, he says, was the creation of the MyShake app, which anyone in California can download free to their cellphone to get real-time alerts of ground shaking near them. The app, which accesses data from the statewide USGS warning system, gives people time to protect themselves and their loved ones in the event of a major earthquake.
"As an individual, you can use it to drop, cover and hold on, but also people use it on a larger scale," says Allen, a professor of earth and planetary science. "The BART system in the Bay Area, for example - they slow trains to prevent the likelihood of derailment. Schools use it to issue a warning and reduce the likelihood of an injury. Fire house doors open, elevators go to the nearest floor and open their doors. All of these strategies are used to reduce the likelihood that you're going to be injured in an earthquake."
It's impossible to predict when the next major quake will happen, he says, but the MyShake app can help save lives and money by providing up to tens of seconds of advance warning when it does occur.
Despite the importance of earthquake early warning, Allen thinks that it might never have happened without university research, specifically the work at UC Berkeley that turned an idea into an alert system you keep in your back pocket.
"That's where the value of both public funding and the universities really come into play," he says.
