Napa, Calif., quake: Early-warning system gains support

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Cellar worker Adam Craig, 36, of Napa works to clear the rubble at the Kieu Hoang Winery, one of several in the area that were damaged by the earthquake. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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Cellar workers work to clean up the Kieu Hoang Winery, one of several in the area that were damaged by the 6.0 temblor. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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Vickie Katsubayashi looks at a red-tagged home near downtown Napa. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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A home in Napa was damaged by Sunday’s 6.0-magnitude earthquake. (Alvin Jornada / EPA)

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A crack in the pavement cuts across a street in a neighborhood of Napa that was affected by Sunday’s quake. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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Bay Area Home Depot employees join a volunteer cleanup effort in downtown Napa. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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Bay Area Home Depot employees help with volunteer cleanup efforts in downtown Napa. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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Four homes at Napa Valley Mobile Home Park in Napa were destroyed by a fire triggered by the 6.0-magnitude earthquake that struck early Sunday. Two other homes were badly charred by the fire, while many were knocked off their foundations by the temblor. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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Karl Luchsinger recovers a child’s car seat from a vehicle after a carport collapsed in the Napa earthquake. (Josh Edelson / AFP Getty Images)

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Gin Betourne, 56, uses a candle for light after a 6.0 quake caused a power outage in her Napa, Calif., neighborhood. The quake damaged the chimney in the house she has lived in for six months. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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Maria Hanks, 50, and her husband Brad, 53, sit in candlelight after spending much of the day cleaning up the damage around their house. They lost power after a 6.0 quake struck and it had still not come back on by nightfall on Sunday evening. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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Cars sit under a carport at Charter Oaks Apartments in Napa that collapsed in Sunday’s earthquake. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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The remains of one of four mobile homes destroyed by fire at Napa Valley Mobile Home Park in Napa after the earthquake. The community was left without water and power. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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Phil Tessier of Napa helps Tim and Ann Whitlock move out of their home on Twin Oaks Drive after it was heavily damaged by the quake. About 100 people from their church, Grace Church of Napa, pitched in. “Who says you can’t move in six hours? It can be done,” Ann Whitlock said. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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One of the mobile homes destroyed by fire at Napa Valley Mobile Home Park in Napa. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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Scott Whitlock walks on a stretch of buckled sidewalk while helping his parents move out of their damaged home in Napa. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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Dan Kavarian, chief building official for the city of Napa, walks around the downtown area red-tagging building that were deemed unsafe after a 6.0 earthquake hit the area early Sunday. The quake damaged several buildings and caused several injuries. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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A 6.0 earthquake sent bricks falling from a Napa business onto a car early Sunday. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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People gather in downtown Napa to view the damage to buildings from a 6.0-magnitude earthquake early Sunday. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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A close-up view of damage to a building caused by a 6.0-magnitude earthquake early Sunday. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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Dan Kavarian, chief building official for the city of Napa, posts a yellow tag allowing limited access on a building damaged in a 6.0-magnitude earthquake early Sunday. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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Windows at the post office in downtown Napa were shattered in a 6.0-magnitude earthquake early Sunday. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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Bricks that fell from a building in Napa caused substantial damage to a car parked next to it during a 6.0-magnitude earthquake early Sunday. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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The post office in downtown Napa suffered damage to its brick walls and windows in a 6.0-magnitude earthquake early Sunday. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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Gurbeer Singh cleans up fallen merchandise at a 7-Eleven store in American Canyon, Calif., after Sunday morning’s 6.0 earthquake. (Ben Margot / Associated Press)

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With spilled wine covering the floor, winemaker Tom Montgomery views damage caused by Sunday’s earthquake at B.R. Cohn Winery’s barrel storage facility in Napa, Calif. (Eric Risberg / Associated Press)

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Steve Brody inspects damage to his mobile home in Napa, Calif., after Sunday’s magnitude-6.0 earthquake. (Ben Margot / Associated Press)

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Bottles are strewn on the floor of the Bloom Hair Salon in Napa, Calif., after a magnitude-6.0 earthquake centered nearby. (Evan Wagstaff / Los Angeles Times)

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A home in Napa, Calif., that was badly damaged in the earthquake. (Evan Wagstaff / Los Angeles Times)

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A Napa, Calif., building housing a tasting room suffered significant damage in the earthquake. (Evan Wagstaff / Los Angeles Times)

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Broken bottles lie on the floor of an oil and vinegar store in Napa, Calif., after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake centered nearby. (Evan Wagstaff / Los Angeles Times)

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Napa County, Calif., firefighters spray foam on hot spots from a fire at a mobile home park in Napa after Sunday morning’s 6.0 earthquake. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

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Jean Meehan looks over the damage to her JHM Stamp and Collectibles store in Napa, Calif., after Sunday morning’s 6.0 earthquake. (Eric Risberg / Associated Press)

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A building in Napa, Calif., is badly damaged after a 6.0 earthquake. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

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Police officers exit a damaged building in Napa, Calif., after Sunday morning’s 6.0 earthquake. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

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A woman looks at the damaged windows of the main post office in Napa, Calif., after Sunday morning’s earthquake. (Eric Risberg / Associated Press)

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The top corner of a building is exposed after Sunday morning’s 6.0 earthquake centered near Napa, Calif. (Eric Risberg / Associated Press)

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Bricks and fallen rubble cover a car parked near the old courthouse in Napa, Calif., after Sunday morning’s 6.0 quake. (Eric Risberg / Associated Press)

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Bricks can be seen in the street after a building was damaged during Sunday morning’s earthquake centered near Napa, Calif. (Ellen Knickmeyer / Associated Press)

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Residents survey the damage to a historic building in downtown Napa after a 6.0 magnitude earthquake hit the San Francisco Bay Area at 3:20 a.m. (Peter DaSilva / EPA)

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Store owners stand near broken glass in downtown Napa, Calif., after a 6.0 earthquake hit the San Francisco Bay Area early Sunday. (Peter DaSilva / EPA)

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Residents survey the damage to buildings in downtown Napa, Calif., after Sunday morning’s 6.0 quake. (Peter DaSilva / EPA)

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A man sweeps broken glass from store windows in Napa, Calif., after Sunday morning’s 6.0 earthquake. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

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A resident checks out damage to a building at 3rd and Brown streets in Napa, Calif., after Sunday’s 6.0 quake. (Lyall Davenport / Associated Press)

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A CHP officer directs traffic away from a buckled section of California 12 after Sunday’s quake, which was centered near Napa. (Peter DaSilva / EPA)

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Napa, Calif., residents in bathrobes check out damage on their street after Sunday’s quake. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

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Caltrans crews assess damage to a California 37 overpass in Vallejo after Sunday morning’s 6.0 quake. (Lee Romney / Los Angeles Times)

By a Times staff writer

Aug. 25, 2014 4:18 PM PT

The success of an early warning system during Sunday’s 6.0 magnitude Napa earthquake is generating more support for the fledgling network.

Scientists at UC Berkeley released a video showing the system sending an alert to their computers when the quake struck. Officials said the system provided an alert 10 seconds before the quake was felt at Berkeley.

Though Napa would not have gotten a warning because of its proximity to the epicenter of the earthquake, Richard Allen, director of UC Berkeley’s Seismological Laboratory, said the alert showed the promise of the technology.

The system works because while earthquakes travel at the speed of sound, sensors that initially detect the shaking near the epicenter of a quake can send a message faster -- at the speed of light -- to warn residents farther away that the quake is coming.

In July, a congressional committee recommended the first federal funds -- $5 million -- specifically for the project.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said Monday that the success shows the urgent need to have the system available to the public.

“I believe an integrated earthquake early warning system is essential to save lives and property,” she said in a statement. “Two bills from the Senate Appropriations Committee move us toward that goal. The bill to fund the Department of the Interior includes $5 million to begin work on an early warning system, while the bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security urges FEMA to prioritize grant funds for such a system. These bills will advance this fall and I will continue to prioritize funding for this system.”

California is working to complete a statewide system, which could be unveiled in the next few years.

Once fully developed, the system could give downtown Los Angeles 40 to 50 seconds of warning that the “Big One” was headed from the San Andreas fault, giving time for elevators to stop at the next floor and open up, firefighters to open up garage doors, high-speed trains to slow down to avoid derailment and surgeons to take the scalpel out of a patient.

A lack of funds, however, has slowed the system’s progress. State legislators have suggested a public/private parternship and do not want the system fully funded by state funds.

Napa, Calif., quake: Early-warning system gains support

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