US: Ten second warning on Napa earthquake gives hope for the Big One

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, an earthquake early-warning system provided an alert 10 seconds before the magnitude-6.0 earthquake that hit San Francisco and northern California's Napa Valley on Sunday, causing no fatalities. A statewide system, that could give downtown Los Angeles 40 to 50 seconds of warning of a "Big One" (about magnitude-9.0) headed from the San Andreas fault, is announced in the next few years.

"While this was not the 'Big One,' we need to be prepared to save lives and protect vital infrastructure - even a few seconds of warning will allow people to seek cover, automatically slow or stop trains, pause surgeries and more," said California state politician, Democrat Adam Schiff.