MyShake app downloads spike after surge of Southern California quakes

Southern California has experienced 13 earthquakes above a magnitude 4 in the past month, and officials say there’s a silver lining to all the seismic activity: people are taking earthquake prevention and early warning more seriously.

After the quakes in El Sereno and near Bakersfield earlier this month, more than 225,000 people downloaded the MyShake app , according to Jon Gudel with the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services.

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Gudel told KNX News’ Pete Demetriou there’s “no reason not to have the MyShake app” installed on your phone.

“Earthquakes are no-notice disasters,” he said. “The only way to get an alert about an impending earthquake is to have that app on your phone to give you possibly up to tens of seconds of notification before you feel the shaking.”

While some people said they didn’t get a significant early warning before this month’s earthquakes, many did get an alert five to 15 seconds beforehand. Gudel points out that if a larger quake hits, any early warning will no doubt save lives.

“There's really no time frame and timeline of when we'll get the next big earthquake, and the most important thing that people can do is be prepared,” he said.

The MyShake app can be downloaded for free on the Apple and Google app stores.

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