Two New Apps: SFO Noise and Earthquakes

Notices of two new, potentially useful apps arrived today courtesy of SFO airport and the CalTech/Berkeley/USGS consortium working on the earthquake alert system.

At www.flysfo.com/noise you can now see the permanent noise monitor readings and view the air traffic around SFO.  The noise abatement page has always been where you can file a noise complaint--for what that's worth.  The permanent noise monitors look like the one I had at my house for a couple of weeks.  The web page is updated in real time, but there is no indication of which noise level is being reported.  I have bookmarked the page and will be monitoring the monitors when it gets loud as it did two evenings ago.  Watching it for just a few minutes, it appears that the Hillsborough monitor consistently reports in at 2-5 points higher than the southern Burlingame site.

On the shaking front, the state has opened up the MyShake app to the public.  It arrived in the Apple App store yesterday and I have downloaded it.  The Chronicle article notes a Google Play version is also available and reports

Cell-phone alerts will be issued only when the system’s sensors detect a quake with a magnitude greater than 5.0 and a complex set of algorithms projects the shaking will cause significant damage. Just a couple such temblors hit California each year.

Alerts via the MyShake app will go out for earthquakes that exceed 4.5 magnitude and to areas projected to have minor shaking, about what would be felt in a building struck by a truck, said Richard Allen, director of UC Berkeley’s Seismological Laboratory and one of the architects of the warning system.

After the three reminders about earthquakes we have had in the last two weeks, it is a timely addition to your phone.

Comments

[Cassandra]

SFO rockin’ and rollin’ up Mills Canyon last night, 1:30am to 2:15am.
Big boomers at 5:30 am.

[Fed Up]

These damn planes have been going nonstop for two days. WTF?

[Cassandra]

1 and 1:30 am again. Always noise, just noting the boomers.

[Sally Meakin]

Lucky you if you missed the 3:32 am one. But on to Joe’s helpful info about those 2 apps. Thank you, Joe. Everyone, please keep in mind that the airport has no noise limit it must abide by, but the city of San Francisco must investigate and mitigate what changed almost 4 years ago to produce the intolerable runway AND, recently, the engine testing in the early hours. Please urge others to join sforunwaynoise.com so we can put pressure on SF to do that. Thank you. Sally Meakin, [email protected]

[Carolyn Staunt]

That app doesn't even report noise complaints to the FAA, what's the point?

[resident]

Complaints don't go to the FAA. They go to the noise abatement office at SFO that is ultimately the city of San Francisco's responsibility. Please try to keep up.

[Cassandra]

3:30am

[Joe]

While we are talking apps, here is a clip from today's city e-newsletter:

The City is working to improve the parking experience for residents and patrons in Burlingame's commercial areas. The smart parking meters installed in the Burlingame Avenue and Broadway commercial core areas already accept coins, credit, and debit cards. Now, parkers can pay their meters through a new smart-phone application called Park Smarter. Review the flyer below for instructions on how to download and use the Park Smarter app. (from Google Play or IOS Apple Store).

[JP]

The whole house is shaking from the planes. What is going on over there tonight?

[Peter Garrison]

2:00 am thundering. Why? Why not 10 pm or 6 am? Jeez.

One plane, one airline.

[Sally Meakin]

I suspect the airport’s mid-night engine testing run-ups have begun again OUTSIDE of what I think are their soundproofed run-up buildings. We all remember the 2 am - 3 am roars a few years back that seemed to have stopped a few years ago. This morning the testings were very much audible. Began a month or two ago, methinks.