In Japan, automated seismic recording systems have been modernized to the point that they can determine that a large earthquake is underway, can estimate the areas of likely strong shaking, and can dispatch warnings to distant at-risk areas before the shaking arrives. In the recent magnitude 9 earthquake, Tokyo's televisions and cellphones received a warning more than half a minute before strong shaking arrived. Elevators moved to the nearest floor and opened, trains stopped, surgeries halted and manufacturing suspended production. http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-jones-earthquakes-20110408,0,1313099.story
This is fantastic, I had no idea.
