Tectonics Research Group, Inc., a Canadian company, recently marketed QuakeAlert, which they describe as "a battery-powered earthquake alarm system." I was asked by Channel 7 (I think) to look over the device and comment on it; the result was a minute-long blurb on the evening news sometime in 1997. I still have the information that came with the product (not the $150 product itself), but you can see most of the pertinent details by clicking here for the QuakeAlert page. After perusing the information, address the following:

1. Briefly summarize how and why this product works (seismologically and, to a lesser degree, mechanically).

2. A skeptical consumer and future Geology 112 graduate should have numerous questions about the effectiveness of this product. Develop such a list, and describe the extent to which the QuakeAlert web site answers those questions. (Note: what they call "rally waves" are Rayleigh waves, one of the two types of surface waves that we discussed earlier.) To really impress me, write e-mail to the company regarding questions not addressed on their site. Include their response, if any.

3. Here's a passage from the pamphlet that came with the product. Think critically about what the product is actually measuring. Note that, using the same distances, the manufacturers calculated different warning times in this passage and in the web site description -- not a critical mistake, but a bit disquieting.