What's shaking?

The California Institute of Technology, the U.S. Geological Survey and the

California Strong Motion Instrumentation Program of the California Division

of Mines and Geology have teamed with private-sector partners to develop

a program to reduce earthquake damage.

The TriNet project — once it is completed in a year and a half from

now — will help disaster response teams take action by quickly identifying

areas subject to the greatest shaking intensity.

A goal of TriNet is to provide real-time ground shaking information to emergency

response decision-makers in the form of a "shake map." The map focuses on

the ground shaking produced by the earthquake rather than the parameters

describing the earthquake source. (While an earthquake has one magnitude

and one epicenter, it produces a range of ground shaking levels throughout

the region.)

Instead of taking hours or days to confirm earthquake activity, the

state-of-the-art technology used by TriNet will enable scientists to create

shake maps in minutes.

Other TriNet partners include Pacific Bell, Southern California Edison,

the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the Navy, the Air Force and

the U.S. Forest Service.