New Disaster Warning Standard

Reported February 2007

RESTON, Va. (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- When a natural disaster strikes, watch out! Buildings crumble, roads are swept away, and homes and lives can be destroyed in seconds.

Experts say the key to saving lives is emergency warnings.

"We try to send out alert to the people who need those alerts, and we try to do that as quickly as possible," Michael Blanpied, Ph.D., a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Reston, Va., tells Ivanhoe.

...But current warning systems are complex, and getting the word out about a disaster isn't easy. Now, a new standard, called the Common Alerting Protocol -- or "CAP," allows much simpler public warnings.

Eliot Christian, a USGS Volunteer for Science, says, "The ultimate goal of CAP is that people will take actions when they're properly warned."

Traditionally, different disasters have their own type of warning system and delivery method. CAP is a common message format for all different disasters. CAP messages are delivered over television, radio, internet and cell phone.

"That's what we get to with the Common Altering Protocol, so that these events can be described in one common way," Christian says.

Only a patchwork warning system was in place during the 2004 tsunami that killed more than 200,000 unsuspecting victims. The new CAP standard is designed to simplify warnings in any future tragedies. It is also compatible with alerting systems designed for multi-lingual and special needs populations.

Click here to Go Inside This Science or contact:

Eliot Christian, Ph.D.
USGS
Reston, VA
echristian@usgs.gov

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