MALIBU, Calif. (KABC) — California has a long history of earthquakes, but a relatively short history of earthquakes warnings.

When a 4.7 magnitude earthquake struck the Malibu region on Thursday morning, experiences were mixed.

“There was a notification at the same time I felt the vibration,” said one resident. Another resident said he didn’t get a notification at all.

In 2019, the state launched the nation’s first statewide earthquake early warning system. It is powered by Shake Alert, which is managed by the U.S. Geological Survey.

“While we may never be able to predict earthquakes, we can now detect them very quickly,” said Jose Lara, division chief of Seismic Hazards for the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.

How does a Shake Alert work?

Once a Shake Alert is triggered, the warning system will trigger alerts across various platforms, including:

The first two options have a lower threshold for earthquakes with a magnitude of 4.5 or greater, while the third option requires a magnitude of 5.0 or greater.

Why didn’t I receive an earthquake warning?

The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services said the primary reason you may not get the shake alert via the MyShake app is proximity. The closer you are to the epicenter, the less time you have to receive the alert.

“We were already outside when we got the call,” said Estefani Solano, who was working at a restaurant in Malibu when the quake struck. About a dozen bottles of wine fell and broke during the shaking.

CAL OES recommends downloading the MyShake app, ensuring your emergency notifications are turned on, and enabling the local awareness option.

“If there is a big earthquake 50 miles away, you will feel it very strongly. That is why you want to download the MyShake app,” says Lara.

The agency said the MyShake app was downloaded more than 20,000 times in just three hours after Thursday’s quake.

A total of 3.5 million people have the app.

“Within seconds, you can take protective measures such as dropping, taking cover and holding on. That can make the difference between getting hurt or not during the earthquake,” Lara said.