The iconic Bay Bridge eastern span split during the devastating Loma Prieta quake, killing one woman and kicking off more than a decade of political wrangling over rebuilding the bridge to seismic standards. | Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Newsom unveils nation's first earthquake warning system for public

OAKLAND — Three decades after the deadly Loma Prieta quake ravaged Northern California, California Gov. Gavin Newsom Thursday unveiled the nation’s first comprehensive early warning system for earthquakes, calling it a cutting edge effort “the likes of which no country in the world has advanced."

“We’re living in a seismically vulnerable part of the world — and the price of living here is preparedness,’’ said Newsom at a press conference surrounded by Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, state Sen. Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) and officials of the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services, Caltrans and the U.S. Geological Survey.


Unlike other natural disasters, earthquakes have struck with no widespread warning in California. The new system, he said, represents “the ability for millions and millions” in California to protect themselves with a new app called MyShake, which will provide critical seconds to “drop, cover and hold on” in advance of temblors with a magnitude of 4.5 or greater.

“This is about your kids, your grandkids, your community,’’ he said, urging Californians to download the app. “This is the beginning of a process that can truly save lives.”

The spectacular setting of the announcement with the backdrop of San Francisco — on a pier constructed from the remnants of the old Bay Bridge — also served as a stark reminder of the potential costs of a major future quake.

The iconic Bay Bridge eastern span split during the devastating Loma Prieta quake, killing one woman and kicking off more than a decade of political wrangling over rebuilding the bridge to seismic standards. The quake also collapsed the nearby double-decker Cypress Structure on the Nimitz freeway in Oakland, killing 42 — the largest number of fatalities in the disaster which killed 63 and injured more than 3,700 Californians.

The new warning system aims to reduce such casualties by marshaling a network of thousands of ground motion sensors around the state that will detect otherwise imperceptible motions deep in the earth before they can be felt by humans. The systems will help officials send warnings to millions of Californians in the critical seconds before a quake is felt above ground.

California residents can get advance warning regarding quakes of a magnitude of 4.5 on the Richter scale or greater. While the system — available through a new app called MyShake — is still in a prototype stage, OES spokesperson Shawn Boyd said it will save lives if widely distributed and can effectively warn the public to “drop, cover and hold” in critical seconds before a major quake.

Though Mexico and Japan have long had early warning systems, University of California, Berkeley seismologist Richard Allen said California’s state of the art system represents “the most sophisticated early warning system in the world right now’’ because it tracks thousands of fault lines that run directly beneath the region, as opposed to tracking faults elsewhere that are mostly offshore.

One of the key benefits of the system, Newsom said, is that utilities are connected to the warning system, and will receive shutoff warnings in the event of an earthquake “that could prevent a lot of lives and a lot of property damage.” Newsom lauded Hill and former state Sen. Alex Padilla for fighting for $46 million already invested in the program to date — including $16.3 million in this year’s budget.