U.S. Earthquake Warning System Needs to Improve, Genachowski Says

"In Japan, we know that the Japanese used broadband to mitigate the impact of the earthquake and tsunami and their efforts do offer some examples to us,” Genachowski said. “The Japan Meteorological Agency’s early warning system relied on broadband to automatically issue alerts vis cellphones and TV after the first, less harmful earthquake providing a short window for people to prepare for the more powerful shockwave that followed.” A broadband-based system also provided warning to industrial facilities and transportation providers so they could shut down automatically, Genachowski said. “High-speed trains automatically came to safe stops in response to earthquake alerts transmitted along the rail system,” he said. “Here in the U.S., we don’t have a comparable earthquake warning system. It’s something we should consider,” especially in the areas most prone to earthquakes, Genachowski said.

The Japan earthquake also underscored the importance of reliable mobile communications, Genachowski said. “Residents of Japan with mobile phones … were able to rely on their battery-powered devices to access Web-based disaster message boards, Twitter and social networking sites … to add and check on updates on families and friends,” he said. “These new technologies of connectivity made a difference on the ground to the people in Japan.” The earthquake underscored the importance of a reliable wireless mesh network, as well as the key role played by broadcasters, he said. “Radio in particular played a significant role in Japan as residents who lost power could turn on the radio in their cars and receive essential information,” Genachowski said. “Even when power was out, your car would continue to work for some time.”

Earthquakes do more damage to infrastructure than any other type of disaster, Fugate warned. “Even when we look at most of the hurricanes, once you get past a grid and you start getting things back up and towers back up, you don’t tend to see some of the types of damages you see in earthquakes,” he said. “Earthquakes are probably, of all the things we face, going to be the most damaging to all of our resilient systems.”

Time is critical in reacting to earthquakes, Fugate said. “What we saw in Japan was 15 to 30 seconds that gave people [time] to get to cover and saved lives.” Fugate also stressed the need for the U.S. to move forward on next-generation 911. “We have built this backbone in this country,” he said. “We have the warning systems. We need to continue to enhance that.” While social networking technologies play a growing role, broadcast TV and radio remains critical, Fugate said. “The ability to provide information is key before, during and after the event occurs.”

The earthquake and tsunami destroyed 18 central offices operated by NTT East and knocked down 65,000 telephone poles, said James Miller, a senior adviser with the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology. Immediately after the earthquake, 1 million people had lost wireline phone service, he said. On the wireless side, the major carriers said the earthquake took almost 8,000 base stations out of service, he said. Hurricane Katrina “had far less devastating effects,” Miller said. He noted that, unlike the U.S., Japan has backup power requirements for telecom facilities, which helped in the recovery.

Japan’s early warning system allows the government to “virtually throttle” the flow of power, control traffic lights and halt Bullet trains during a disaster, said Zenji Nakazawa, with the FCC’s Public Safety Bureau: “We should do the same.” In the past 15 years, Japan has spent some $1 billion on its nationwide warning system, Nakazawa said. “That’s a hefty price tag for any nation, especially in times of fiscal uncertainty and cutbacks in federal grant spending."

Public Safety Bureau Chief Jamie Barnett reminded the forum that the massive New Madrid earthquake affected much of the central and eastern U.S. in December 1811, causing the Mississippi River to flow backwards and cracking sidewalks in Washington, D.C. “We don’t have the luxury of thinking that it can’t happen here,” he said. “The disaster in Japan is a reminder that we can never be too vigilant in preparing for the next disastrous event.”