Australia’s major cities would have no advanced warning if a huge earthquake were to strike, because unlike California and Japan, we do not have an early warning system.
However, scientists say there are major technical questions about installing one here – and the cost would be enormous, especially compared to the lack of damage most Australian earthquakes do.
China’s warning system is the world’s largest. A video posted online by the country’s state broadcaster shows the system triggering blaring loudspeaker alarms.Instead, they listen for the P wave, the first seismic wave caused by an earthquake. The P wave is the fastest-travelling wave, but causes only a small amount of shaking.It is followed by the slow-moving but much more dangerous S wave. The gap between the P and the S wave can be tens of seconds, allowing for a quick warning to be put out.
“You really need to be careful about not panicking people. This is really only effective for operators of critical infrastructure or critical equipment, for which operations can be stopped quickly,” Cummins said.Seismometers must be placed close to the quake epicentre to be effective. This works in California, where fault lines are well known.“We do know some active faults. But we don’t know all of them.
Even large earthquakes rarely do much damage. The effects of Victoria’s largest quake, which struck Woods Point in 2021, wereQuakes that damage towns and claim lives, like Newcastle’s 5.6 magnitude in 1989, are thankfully rare.
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