BILL ANALYSIS �
Bill No: SB
135
SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION
Senator Roderick D. Wright, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
Staff Analysis
SB 135 Author: Padilla
As Amended: April 2, 2013
Hearing Date: April 9, 2013
Consultant: Art Terzakis
SUBJECT
Earthquake Early Warning System
DESCRIPTION
SB 135 makes various findings and declarations relative to
the nature of earthquakes and early warning technology and
requires the Office of Emergency Services (OES), in
collaboration with the California Institute of Technology
(Caltech), the California Geological Survey (CGS), the
University of California Berkeley (UC Berkeley), the U.S.
Geological Survey (USGS), and others, to develop a
comprehensive statewide earthquake warning system in
California.
EXISTING LAW
Existing Law provides for the California Emergency Services
Act which requires the Director of the Office of Emergency
Services (OES) to coordinate the emergency activities of
all state agencies during an emergency.
Current law provides for the establishment of a
Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS) for use by
all emergency response agencies.
Existing law provides that OES shall coordinates the
activities of all state agencies relating to preparation
and implementation of the State Emergency Plan, the
response efforts of state and local agencies and the
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integration of federal resources into state and local
response and recovery operations.
Existing law establishes the California Geological Survey
which provides scientific products and services about the
state's geology, seismology and mineral resources including
their related hazards, which affect the health, safety, and
business interests of the people of California. The
Geological Survey creates and maintains the California
Integrated Seismic Network (CISN) "ShakeMaps."
Existing planning laws require that safety elements of
local general plans protect communities from any
unreasonable risks associated with the effects of, amongst
others, earthquakes and tsunamis, and include mapping of
known seismic and other geological hazards.
Existing law provides for the 20-member Alfred E. Alquist
Seismic Safety Commission - 15 members are appointed by the
Governor and confirmed by the Senate, one member
representing the Governor's Office of Emergency Services,
one member representing the Division of the State Architect
in the Department of General Services, one member
representing the Building Standards Commission, one member
appointed by the Senate Rules Committee, and one member
appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly.
The Commission was established with the passage of the
Seismic Safety Commission Act of 1975, in response to the
devastation following the Sylmar Earthquake of 1971, after
an ad hoc Committee recognized the need for a continuing
effort to build the State's infrastructure to resist future
earthquakes. The Commission is charged with investigating
earthquakes, advising the Governor, Legislature and state
and local government on ways to reduce earthquake risk and
ensuring a coordinated framework for establishing
earthquake safety policies and programs in California.
BACKGROUND
Purpose of SB 135: According to the author's office,
California has the highest seismic risk of any state in the
United States and this fact makes developing an early
warning system critical to the people of California. This
measure would task OES, in collaboration with Caltech, UC
Berkeley, USGS, and CGS, the responsibility for developing
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a comprehensive earthquake early warning system.
The idea behind an earthquake early warning system is to
take advantage of the time lag between a quake's initial,
relatively mild shockwaves and the later ones that inflict
the bulk of the damage. It is the author's belief that
development of this warning system has the potential to
save thousands of lives and millions of dollars. A fully
developed warning system would provide Californians
critical seconds to take cover, assist loved ones, pull to
the side of the road, or move away from hazards.
Additionally, it could allow sufficient precious seconds to
stop a train, power down critical infrastructure, and speed
the response of emergency personnel.
The author's office estimates the initial cost for the
system described in this measure is $82 million over a
5-year period - the author's office emphasizes that such an
investment will pay huge dividends by preventing even more
costly damage.
Ring of Fire: The author's office points out that 90% of
the world's earthquakes and over 80% of the words largest
earthquakes occur along the Circum-Pacific Belt, also known
as the "Pacific Ring of Fire." California is in the heart
of the Pacific Ring of Fire
which includes the very active San Andreas Fault zone which
is more than 800 miles long and extends to depths of at
least 10 miles within the Earth. Geological studies show
that over the past 1,400 to 1,500 years large earthquakes
have occurred at about 150-year intervals on the southern
San Andreas Fault - the last such large quake in 1857.
According to analysis from the Uniform California
Earthquake Rupture Forecast, released in 2008, California
has a 99.7% chance of having a 6.7 magnitude earthquake and
a 94% likelihood of a 7.0 magnitude earthquake during the
next 30 years. In addition, the USGS released a report
that showed a 7.8 magnitude earthquake on the southern
Andreas Fault would cause 2,000 deaths and $200 billion in
damage, with severe and long lasting disruption.
Early warning systems are in place, or in the works, in a
number of earthquake prone nations including Japan, Taiwan,
Mexico, Turkey, Italy, China and Romania.
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Japan turned on the first publicly available nationwide
earthquake early warning system in 2007 and on March 11,
2011 it had its first true test during the 9.0 magnitude
Tohoku earthquake off the coast of Sendai. Earthquake
warnings were automatically broadcast on television and
radio and 52 million people received their warning via
smartphones - millions more downloaded the early warning
app after the quake to receive warnings in advance of large
aftershocks.
What is earthquake early warning and how does the system
work?
When an earthquake occurs seismic waves radiate from the
epicenter like waves on a pond - it is these waves we feel
as earthquake shaking which causes damage to structures.
The technology exists to detect moderate to large
earthquakes so quickly that a warning can be sent to
locations outside the area where the earthquake begins
before these destructive waves arrive. The amount of
warning time at a particular location depends on the
distance from the earthquake epicenter. Locations very
close to the earthquake epicenter will receive relatively
little or no warning whereas locations far removed from the
earthquake epicenter would receive more warning time but
may not experience damaging shaking. For those locations
in between, the warning time could range from seconds to
minutes.
Currently, there are two approaches to earthquake early
warning - the "single station" (or on-site) approach and
the "network" approach. In the single-station approach, a
single sensor detects the arrival of the faster but weaker
seismic wave (P-wave) and warns before the arrival of the
slower, more destructive seismic wave (S-wave). This
approach is relatively simple, but some would argue it is
less accurate and more prone to false alerts compared to
the network approach.
The network approach utilizes many seismic sensors that are
distributed across a wide area where earthquakes are likely
to occur. This network of sensors sends data to a central
site where ground motion signals are analyzed, earthquakes
are detected and warnings are issued. The network approach
is considered to be slower, but more reliable than the
on-site approach. This is because it uses information from
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many stations to confirm that the ground motion detected is
actually from an earthquake and not from some other source
of vibration.
The California Integrated Seismic Network (CISN): The
CISN, a collaborative effort between Caltech, UC Berkeley,
USGS, CalEMA and CGS, currently operates a network of
hundreds of seismic sensors in California to monitor and
notify earthquake activity in this State. The CISN is
primarily funded by USGS, CalEMA, and CGS. The CISN
generates and distributes ShakeMap and other products for
emergency response, post-earthquake recovery, earthquake
engineering, and seismological research.
Comments: Currently, two contrasting approaches to
alerting the public about earthquakes are competing for the
state's support, one based on a network of
government-operated sensors, the other built around a
private company's equipment.
The Coachella Valley Emergency Managers Association (CVEMA)
and the Coachella Valley iHub (CViHub) applaud the author's
efforts in elevating the importance of early warning
systems but they have expressed concern that a top-down
government only program, such as SB 135, may not be the
only solution in an environment of shrinking government
resources.
Both CVEMA and CViHub believe that established industry
driven earthquake warning technology offers important
alternative and collaborative approaches with significant
public benefits. Both entities reference the fact that in
2009, the CVEMA partnered with the Coachella Valley
Association of Governments (CVAG) to approve a
public/private partnership project that achieves
sustainable and beneficial earthquake warning.
Specifically, the Coachella Valley Regional Earthquake
Warning System (CREWS) is a private/public partnership
between CVAG, CVEMA, KESQ News TV Ch. 3, Seismic Warning
Systems, Inc., and the Coachella Valley's Public School
Districts.
PRIOR/RELATED LEGISLATION
AB 928 (Blakeslee) 2009-10 Session. Would have required
the High-Speed Rail Authority to develop an earthquake
early warning system and coordinate development of that
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system with the Cal-EMA, the Department of Education, and
the Public Utilities Commission. The bill would have
required the earthquake early warning system to be designed
to protect the lives of high-speed train passengers and
schoolchildren, and critical infrastructure by providing
advanced earthquake warning and by enabling preventive
measures seconds before an earthquake. (Held in Assembly
policy committee at author's request)
SB 1278 (Alquist), Chapter 532, Statutes of 2006. Among
other things, renamed the Seismic Safety Commission the
Alfred E. Alquist Seismic Safety Commission, placed the
commission within the State and Consumer Services Agency,
as an independent unit, and increased the membership of the
commission from 17 members to 20 members.
AB 1374 (Liu) 2005-06 Session. Would have extended the
assessment that supports the
Seismic Safety Commission through July 1, 2013. (Vetoed -
Governor's message stated, "Since we are reviewing how best
to use the expertise the Commission provides, it is
premature to extend the assessment that supports the
Commission through 2013.")
AB 584 (Blakeslee), Chapter 92, Statutes of 2005. Made
several clarifying, technical, and code maintenance changes
to existing provisions of the Government Code relating to
the Seismic Safety Commission.
SB 1049 (Budget Committee), Chapter 741, Statutes 2003 .
Established authority until July 1, 2007 that Seismic
Safety Account funds may be used to fund activities of the
Seismic Safety Commission and related activities as
approved by the Legislature. This was a shift from the use
of a mixture of money from the General Fund, seismic bond
funds and reimbursement which had been used prior to 2003.
SUPPORT: As of April 5, 2013:
California Institute of Technology
Los Altos, Town of
Los Angeles, City of
Rancho Cordova, City of
South El Monte, City of
The Honorable Bill Bogaard, Mayor City of Pasadena
University of California
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UC Berkeley Seismological Laboratory
West Hollywood, City of
OPPOSE: None on file as of April 5, 2013.
DUAL REFERRAL: Senate Natural Resources & Water Committee
FISCAL COMMITTEE: Senate Appropriations Committee
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