How ShakeCast Earthquake Tracking System Works

Get the Message

In Chicago, XYZ Co.’s disaster recovery manager gets an alert from the USGS ShakeCast service on her beeper warning of a magnitude 6.0 earthquake south of San Francisco. The company has three facilities and two vendors in the area.

Check the Map

The manager retrieves a ShakeMap and then uses a corporate application to merge the ShakeMap with a map from the company’s facilities management system. Colors indicate the severity of shaking near XYZ Co. and vendor sites.

Request Damage Reports

E-mail and pager messages are sent automatically to facility managers and suppliers requesting damage reports. The disaster recovery team assesses reported damage and options for maintaining the supply chain.

Launch Disaster Recovery Plan

E-mail notifications are sent according to preprogrammed business rules.

TO: Minneapolis call center

RE: San Mateo call center likely damaged. Prepare for more call volume.

TO: San Jose suppliers

RE: Roads to Belmont closed. Wait for shipping instructions.

TO: Oklahoma distribution

RE: Belmont manufacturing and warehouse mildly damaged. Conference call in four hours.

TO: New York data center

RE: Santa Clara data center likely damaged. Prepare for more volume.

TO: Vacationing CEO

RE: Quake hit three of five San Francisco sites. Recovery protocols in play. Updates to come.