PEOPLE in Taiwan should soon have up to 25 seconds warning before an earthquake hits, thanks to a computerised early-warning system. It would give automated emergency systems enough time to stop trains, shut down gas lines, or tell surgeons to stop their work. “This could be a 911 emergency call for earthquakes,” says Ta-Liang Teng of the Southern California Earthquake Center at the University of Southern California.
When an earthquake hits, shock waves radiate out from the epicentre at between 3 and 6 kilometres per second. Large quakes can do serious damage up to 160 kilometres away, giving a 40-second…
