A system that's designed to generate warnings soon before earthquakes strike will become available to the public on Oct. 17, the California Governor's Office of Emergency Service announced.
The release of the ShakeAlert system coincides with the 30th anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake.
ShakeAlert is designed to push warnings through a smartphone app. It uses the same wireless notification system that produces Amber Alerts for missing and endangered children.
The system aims to detect the early movements of an earthquake and calculate its location and intensity before alerting areas where shaking is likely to occur.