Feinstein, Schiff Announce Major New Funding for West Coast Earthquake Early Warning System in President's Budget

Press Release

Today, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) announced that President Obama had included $5 million for the West Coast Earthquake Early Warning system in his Fiscal Year 2016 budget released this week. This is the first time that the President has requested a specific funding amount in his budget, thereby recognizing the importance of the West Coast Earthquake Early Warning System. The Earthquake Early Warning system is being developed by Caltech, UC-Berkeley and the University of Washington in conjunction with the U.S. Geological Survey. It can provide users with seconds to even a minute or more of warning before shaking hits, depending on the distance to the epicenter. A limited system already been deployed for test users has proved that the early warning technology is sound.

"A fully-built out West Coast earthquake early warning system is critical to saving lives and protecting infrastructure by giving us a heads up before the next "big one' hits," said Rep. Schiff. "By including an additional $5 million in funding from last year's initial federal investment, President Obama is acknowledging that this is something that cannot wait any longer. We couldn't agree more. Through the appropriations process, we will work to make sure that we secure this additional funding, so residents have a critical advanced warning to seek cover, automatically slow or stop trains, pause surgeries and more.

"The next West Coast earthquake is a question of when, not if, and an earthquake early-warning system is necessary to save lives, reduce property damage and protect critical infrastructure," said Senator Feinstein. "The Obama administration has now expressed its support for this project by requesting additional funds to build it. I will work with my fellow West Coast senators and representatives this year to secure federal funds and hope to see the state and private sector step up and contribute their fair share."

In December 2014, Congress passed a funding bill for FY2015 which included an additional $5 million specifically for the Earthquake Early Warning system, bringing the total funding for the system for FY2015 to $6.5 million. This was the first time Congress included funds specifically allocated for the system in a spending bill. That $5 million in funding allowed those developing the statewide system to begin purchasing and installing additional sensors, build new stations, speed up the ShakeAlert system, and come closer to deploying comprehensive early earthquake warning coverage throughout earthquake prone regions of the West Coast.

In October 2014, Senator Feinstein and Rep. Schiff were joined by 35 other members of Congress in sending a letter to the President urging him to provide funding for an earthquake early warning system in his FY2016 budget request. Schiff and Feinstein are pleased that President's budget, for the first time, allocated funds specifically for the system and overall funding for the system was increased.

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