Personally, I don't think the public warning function is that important. People are not good about reacting to warnings. First of all they are slow to respond, since they want to verify the warning. This behavior is called "milling." [Be sure and read this linked article on warnings and milling.]
What we need are machine-to-machine (M2M) functions that take the signal and immediately cause certain actions to occur or to stop. Elevators should proceed to the next floor and verbal message be made, "Get out of the elevator, an earthquake has been detected. Get out now." I don't know about you, but I'd get out! No need for milling in that situation.
Trains stopping or slowing, chemical processes being stopped, etc., is what we need to have happen. Even fire house doors opening automatically will help. In the 1989 earthquake some fire station doors where jammed shut and engines could not exit.
What happens with all of this in the current administration is anyone's guess. It is not climate change, but it does involve science. I say, take a billion dollars from the military budget and put it toward a robust earthquake and tsunami warning system on the West Coast and other areas of the nation that need one.
Note that Washington state is alone in not appropriating any funding toward the earthquake warning system in the Pacific NW.
