A New Warning System Hopes to Alert Mexicans to Earthquakes and Save Lives Eoghan Macguire - CNN
go to original November 30, 2014

A new warning system designed by architect Andres Meira uses cheap radio equipment to pick up warning signals, making it more affordable for Mexicans than existing products. Al Jazeera's Adam Raney reports from Mexico City. (Al Jazeera English)

Since the devastating 1985 earthquake smashed into Mexico City killing 10,000 people, the country has invested in one of the most advanced seismic warning systems anywhere in the world.

The SASMEX facility came online in 1991 and reacts to data gathered by sensors placed near major fault lines along Mexico's Pacific coast, buying vital seconds for residents to brace themselves before the tremors begin.

But not everyone has access to a SASMEX receiver - at a cost of roughly $330 apiece, they are a luxury the majority of Mexicans can't afford.

According to local tech entrepreneur, Andres Meira, such vital services should be far more widely available.

After combining with local engineers and tech investors based in Silicon Valley, Meira believes he may have a solution that will bring the SASMEX signal to the masses.

It's called the Grillo (the Spanish word for cricket) early warning system. The compact device - a cube about the size of an alarm clock - taps into the special frequencies that SASMEX operates on and relays that information to its users.

When seismic activity is detected, the Grillo sounds a loud, flashing alarm. At a cost of just $50, it also undercuts the price of the receivers used primarily in public buildings by around 660%.

"This is the most affordable and the most direct way for the Mexican public to connect to the early warning system," Meira says of the product, which also became Mexico's most successful ever Kickstarter campaign.

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