Readiness in their case means installing a network of seismometers to record tremors, and, within minutes, turning the information into maps of where the most shaking, and hence the most damage, occurred.
Emergency workers can use the maps to direct resources and estimate damage.
In the Los Angeles area, a flood of funding after the Northridge earthquake spawned an extensive seismic network that will include more than 600 seismometers. But in the Bay Area, scientists have fewer than 30 modern machines. Until they get more, the Bay Area researchers must rely mostly on models of what they think will happen in an earthquake based on what the ground is made of and where the quake strikes. Scientists won't know the accuracy of their estimates until they test the results against a real earthquake. Emergency managers probably won't rely on the models in sending out disaster relief.