LOS ANGELES, June 2 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. congressman and a seismologist have warned about the "dangerous" consequences of cutting the budget of an earthquake early warning system called ShakeAlert for the U.S. west coast.
According to the Pasadena Star News, once the budget proposal the White House released in May was approved by Congress, support for the ShakeAlert program would be eliminated.
"The White House decision to eliminate support is incredibly misguided and dangerous," Congressman Adam Schiff said, adding that cutting the program would waste 23 million U.S. dollars already invested in deploying the alert system.
Besides, the cost of building the system would be minor compared to the potential loss of lives, businesses and homes without an early warning when an earthquake happens, Schiff told a press conference held Thursday at California Institute of Technology.
U.S. seismologist Lucy Jones said the ShakeAlert system can alert people seconds or minutes before a massive earthquake happens, which could make a huge difference in lives saved during an earthquake.
She said the loss of funding would kill the program.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the purpose of the ShakeAlert system "is to identify and characterize an earthquake a few seconds after it begins, calculate the likely intensity of ground shaking that will result, and deliver warnings to people and infrastructure in harm's way."
Mexico, Japan and Turkey have similar systems, the Los Angeles-based TV station KTLA5 reported.
