Shake alert: Why New Zealanders want an earthquake early warning system

A New Zealand Herald website article.

After one of New Zealand’s shakiest decades in history, Kiwis overwhelmingly want the country to build a system to give us all a heads-up when future quakes hit.

Earthquake early warning (EEW) systems work by detecting and reacting to an earthquake’s fastest-travelling P-waves before the slower but more damaging S-waves arrive, giving people a few seconds to prepare.

Unlike Japan, Mexico and now parts of the US, New Zealand doesn’t have a nationally-funded earthquake early warning system.

Researchers have now received a clear signal from the public that they want one – and they’ve even heard just what it should look like.

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