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California Tests Earthquake Early Warning System

Last week the USGS, in partnership with the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, conducted a test of the earthquake early warning system in downtown Oakland. A wireless emergency alert was sent to approximately 40,000 phones in a 60 acre area with a message informing the recipients that it was a test, along with the link to a survey. The survey contained questions such as how quickly the alert was received, what kind of phone they had, and which phone carrier they used. Out of the 40,000 to receive the alert, 907 completed the survey. In a somewhat recent report (2016) it was calculated that an earthquake early waring system message would take approximately 30 seconds to be transmitted, but most of the alerts last week were received in under four seconds. This significant decrease in time can be attributed to the fact that most phone carriers have upgraded to 4G LTE, something that could have a huge impact on EEWs going forward. As to be expected the test run did not go perfectly, but it did bring California a big step closer to officially implementing the use of an earthquake early warning system.

 

Sources:

https://www.govtech.com/em/preparedness/California-Earthquake-Early-Warning-System-Gets-an-Early-Test.html

https://www.caloes.ca.gov/cal-oes-divisions/earthquake-tsunami-volcano-programs/california-earthquake-early-warning-program

Nepal could still be waiting for complete rupture

In April of 2015, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit the country of Nepal right outside the capital city of Kathmandu. The quake devastated the area, destroying entire villages, road networks, and even taking down s few national monuments. The death doll was estimated to be around 9,000. Even though this event occurred almost four years ago, a group of seismologists from ETH Zurich believe that the region still faces the threat of another even stronger earthquake, probably of magnitude eight or more. As we have learned in class, it is impossible to exactly predict when, where, and how earthquakes will occur. However, the scientists from ETH Zurich are making these predictions based on the fact that the 2015 earthquake was only a partial rupture of the Himalayan Fault between the Indian and Eurasian plates.

Image result for nepal earthquake

Even though the 2015 earthquake was a mid to large size earthquake that released a lot of energy from the fault, it doesn’t mean that there is less potential energy stored in the fault today, in fact it seems as though the opposite has happened. The 2015 earthquake ruptured deep within the earth, and caused an increase in tension within the frontal section of the Himalayan Fault.

 

Sources:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/01/190116115518.htm

https://www.google.com/search?q=nepal+earthquake&safe=active&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjlqKXpsL_hAhWwiOAKHSxsA0UQ_AUIECgD&biw=1440&bih=693#imgrc=QDDPv6b2SABgeM:

 

 

About Me

Cameron is a freshman Schreyer’s Honors student at Penn State University where she is planning on double majoring in biology and neuropsychology with the hope of attending medical school. She has always found biology to be her favorites subject in school, and was inspired to become a surgeon when she took a high school anatomy class where she got to perform multiple dissections. In her first term at Penn State, Cameron took a lab-based human anatomy class that worked hands-on with cadavers, further cementing her dream of becoming a surgeon. When she’s not studying, Cameron can be found at the ice rink where she is a part of the Penn State division 1 ice hockey team. Her focus and drive to become a high level athlete mirrors her dedication that she puts into her studies.

RCL Post #9: Why The Parkland Shooting is Different

Being given the prompt to “comment on any civic issue” is a pretty vague topic to base a blog post on, and I had a hard time picking a topic straight off of the top of my head. There are so many pressing civic issues in the current media, but one that is dominating the media is the Parkland school shooting. The actual shooting occurred over a month ago on Valentine’s Day, when a former student walked into Marjory Douglas high school with an AR-15 and killed 17 people. It was immediately apparent that the Parkland shooting was going to be different than some of its predecessors.

There have been numerous public shootings in America within the past ten years, Sandyhook in Newtown, the Pulse Night Club in Orlando, the Harvest Music Festival in Vegas are just a few. The thing that makes Parkland stand out from the others that I have mentioned above is the response from the surviving Parkland high school students. Their ability to unite and actually form a plan of action in a time of unbelievable tragedy is unprecedented. Their solidarity and commitment to bringing about a change in policy was enough to inspire other students to take action as well. The Parkland shooting prompted a call to action louder and more resounding than I can personally remember, especially with the widespread .

It seems as though the time for simply grieving over gun violence tragedies has passed, as there has been a stronger push for gun reform in the age-old controversy of gun control. While the Parkland students have not let up on their social media campaign for better policies, it is interesting to watch the reactions of the American public. Despite the facts that these teenagers just survived a public shooting, they are still being me with a loads of criticism and hate on the very social media platforms that they are campaigning on.

What the Parkland shooting has really done is expose the ingrained beliefs of many Americans that guns are a necessity for America to be considered a free country. Similar to how the 2016 presidential elections shed a new light on the divisions within America, many strong pro-gun enthusiasts are louder today.  It is amusing and disheartening to read through comments on Facebook of people arguing that if any restrictions on access to guns are put into place it will undoubted snowball until guns are abolished completely. This isn’t a logical argument, but yet it somehow proves to be persuasive to many gun owners.

It will be interesting to watch this issue unfold over the next couple of months, and watch the showdown of teenagers vs. adults that don’t want to listen to what they have to say. For our countries’ sake, and for the sake of the next school targeted by a gunman, I hope that someone starts to listen.

 

Passion Post #5: The Grind Never Stops

It seems crazy that there are just a few short weeks before I complete my first year as a Nittany lion. Looking back at my first couple of passion blog posts back from September, I can’t believe how long and how short one season can feel at the same time! As you know, the PSU Women’s ice hockey season ended over a month ago, but that doesn’t mean that we haven’t been training!

The second we returned from Spring Break, our team was thrust right into post-season training. We have off-ice workouts five days a week, for six weeks before school ends. This is our strength trainer’s favorite time of year because she gets to push us harder than she usually would during the season (on our first day back she said it was like Christmas morning for her). It’s hard to immediately go back into training mode since our season ended just a couple weeks ago, but we know that the goal of post-season is to get an edge on other programs so that we can beat them on the ice next year.

While it sounds great in theory, I’m not going to sugarcoat it…post-season absolutely sucks. Three lifts, two conditioning workouts (including our trainer’s new invention: a conditioning circuit), and two on-ice skills and conditioning sessions every week is a lot to put the body through. I honestly thought that I wasn’t going to make it through the first week, especially after a particularly heavy back-squat lift. However, the pain and suffering brought our team closer together and definitely pushed us to get stronger and faster.

(painfully memories in this room)

After six weeks of HARD training, we had our much-anticipated MAX WEEK (it’s a team rulethat you have to say it in all caps like your a muscle-head). MAX WEEK is the final week where we test in multiple different exercises to(hopefully) set a new bar of what our best scores would be. The last time we tested maximum repititions was about 8 months ago, at the end of pre-season, and we were looking to improve upon the scores that we had then. We tested in back squat, front squat, bench press, chin-ups, max push-ups in a minute, broad jump, vertical jump, and also how long we could hold a plank with a 10lb plate on our back. In addition to our weight-room tests, we also had two conditioning tests: an off-ice pacer test and an on-ice beep test.

On our last day of post-season, it was a relief to know that we were finally done being tortured in the weight room, but it was also a sad realization to know that it would be four months until our team was all together again. Above all, it is exciting to know that next season is just around the corner. We have a countdown clock in our locker room that is already counting down the days until our next game, and guess what? It’s only 148 days until we show up at Colgate University and show them what we’re made of!!!

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