🚀 go-pugleaf

Hello Dr. Carasso:

Yes, I am with you, and I too think that being warned in
advance is useful. I have some comments :

Air sirens may be used in Richmond, CA to warn
in case of future chemical spills (SO3/H2SO4, etc.)
The chemical fumes travel with the speed of the wind.
One gets some time to react. My step-daughter, while life
guarding at the local pool, had time to send everybody home
and close the pool for the day the SO3 spill occured last year.

I would speculate that a 60-sec, public quake-warning creates
PANIC ! What magnitude ? Whom you save first ? Got only 30 sec !
More life may be lost to PANIC than to the actual quake.
I guess it must be a very tough decision to alarm the public.
And then the (numerous) legal aspects if anything may go wrong.

I have seen at the hardware store (may be 1 year ago?), 
individual p_wave quake detectors (battery powered, $15.-, size
similar to a smoke detector). I do not recall the manufacturer.
The instructions claimed that the detector will give some
60 sec (?) warning based upon p-wave (faster/less destructive)
sound-wave detection and based upon the distance from the
epicenter. Sensitivity adjustments were required
after installation, so that the detector will not detect
the banging of a door in the house. Never bought one.

I expected to see some comments in this group about these
detectors but I did not see any. Did I miss something ?
And I do not know if the detector manufacturer is still
in business.

An effective warning should give people plenty of time to
reach a shelter for ALL types of quake, without a miss.
I do not know if this can be done today. Researching... 

Regards, Dan.