The Volcanological and Seismological Observatory (Ovsicori) confirmed Monday that its early warning system for tremors is generating the warnings with about 10 seconds delay.“We are aware of significant delays in the alerts received by our EEW application,” the institution said in a brief statement.
Given the geological characteristics and the small size of the country, the situation results in it being very unlikely to receive the alert before the tremors.“We are trying to rectify the problem and will post updates through this medium when available,” Ovsicori added on its social networks.
An app to know that tremors are coming
The Ovsicori app is about to turn one year old. It was launched in mid-June 2023.Its function is based on the reports received by the entity in real time from its stations throughout the country.
With these data, an algorithm will detect the earthquake, make a location and determine a preliminary magnitude. This allows to anticipate the seismic waves and send the alert, whose conditions will depend on the magnitude and distance of the earthquake.In the most favorable scenarios, it would be possible to have up to 30 seconds in advance to prepare.
Integrated with the Central American Earthquake Early Warning (Attac)
The pass-through system is integrated with the Central American Earthquake Early Warning (Attac). This system includes the seismic laboratories of Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala.
In any case, experts emphasize that it is an early reporting application and not an earthquake prediction.It is still available for download on Google Play and the Apple store.
