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The ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning System is now the first in the world to use geodetic data! Scientists at the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network developed a new algorithm called GFAST that helps ShakeAlert to more accurately estimate the size of very large earthquakes. Learn all about it from our newest blog post! ShakeAlert has always used data from seismic stations to rapidly calculate earthquake location and magnitude. These values have been calculated using the EPIC and FinDer algorith

GPS Pioneer Dr. Gladys West Dies at 95 Dr. Gladys West, the brilliant mathematician whose groundbreaking work made modern GPS technology possible, died January 17, 2026, at age 95. Born on a Virginia tobacco farm in 1930 during Jim Crow segregation, West became valedictorian, earned mathematics degrees, and in 1956 became the second Black woman hired at the Naval Surface Warfare Center. For 42 years, she developed complex algorithms using the IBM 7030 supercomputer to create precise geodetic mod