MyShake app gets more than 20,000 downloads in 3 hours after Malibu-area earthquake

MALIBU, Calif. (KABC) -- California has a long history of earthquakes, but a relatively short one of earthquake alerts.

So when a 4.7 magnitude earthquake struck the Malibu area Thursday morning, the experiences varied.

"There was an alert at the same time I felt the shaking," said one resident. Another resident said he didn't get an alert at all.

In 2019, the state launched the nation's first statewide earthquake early warning system. It's powered through Shake Alert, which is operated by the U.S. Geological Survey.

"While we may never be able to predict earthquakes, we are now able to very quickly detect earthquakes," said Jose Lara, the Seismic Hazards Branch Chief for the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services.

How does a Shake Alert work?

Once there is a Shake Alert, the warning system triggers alerts through different platforms, including:

The first two have a lower threshold for earthquake magnitudes (4.5 or higher) while the third option requires a 5.0 magnitude or higher.

Why didn't I get an earthquake alert?

The California Governor's Office of Emergency Services said the primary reason for not getting the alert before the shaking through the MyShake app is proximity. The closer you are to the epicenter, the less time to receive the alert.

"We were already outside when we got the message," said Estefani Solano, who was working at a restaurant in Malibu when the earthquake struck. About a dozen bottles of wine fell and broke during the shaking.

CAL OES recommends downloading the MyShake app, making sure your emergency notifications are enabled and turning on the local awareness option.

"Let's say a large scale earthquake happens 50 miles from there, you're going to feel it strongly, and that's why you want to have the MyShake app downloaded," said Lara.

The agency says following Thursday's earthquake, there were more than 20,000 downloads of the MyShake app in just three hours.

Overall, 3.5 million people have the app.

"Within seconds, you're able to take protective actions, such as drop, cover, and hold on, which may be the difference between you sustaining an injury during earthquake or not," said Lara.