University of Oregon professor Doug Toomey joined a group of scientists at the White House for the Earthquake Resilience Summit on February 2. The summit was held to advance work surrounding seismic safety and a west coast earthquake early warning system, known as ShakeAlert.

US Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) both spoke at the summit as did Andrew Phelps, director of the Oregon Office of Emergency Management. Local area officials also attended the summit. Currently, the UO is working with the U.S. Geological Survey and several other universities to develop ShakeAlert.

At the summit, the Obama administration announced an executive order for enhanced seismic safety of federal buildings and continued support for the early warning system. 

See the story at Around the O for more info and links to news coverage of the event.