Los Angeles alert app gets ‘weaker’ upgrade after Ridgecrest quakes

Staff

6 years ago

A visitor takes a photo of a crack in the ground following recent earthquakes Sunday, July 6, 2 ... — A visitor takes a photo of a crack in the ground following recent earthquakes Sunday, July 6, 2019, outside of Ridgecrest, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

A July 6, 2019, file photo shows a monitoring station set up because of earthquake activity along Highway 178 between Ridgecrest and Trona, California. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images

In a July 5, 2019, file photo, a child walks by one of the mobile homes knocked off its foundation by an earthquake in Ridgecrest, California. (James Quigg/The Daily Press via AP, File)

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti says the city’s earthquake early warning app will now alert users of weaker shaking.

The Los Angeles Times reports the change announced Wednesday comes after some residents were upset they didn’t receive notice before shaking arrived in LA from two powerful quakes north of the city on July 4 and 5.

The epicenter from the quakes was near Ridgecrest. Both temblors were widely felt in Las Vegas and may have caused the death of a man in Pahrump when a truck fell on him.

The new threshold will trigger alerts on the city-owned ShakeAlertLA app when so-called “weak” shaking is forecast to arrive in Los Angeles County. That level of shaking is typically felt by people inside, especially on upper floors of buildings. It may not be felt by other people, especially those outside.

Officials say the app can make a difference if someone needs to pull over, get out of an elevator or drop, cover and hold on.