This special issue of Seismological Research Letters is intended to facilitate communication of EEW methodologies and experiences in implementation. It complements the special section of Geophysical Research Letters published in March 2009 (Allen, Gasparini, and Kamigaichi 2009). Together, these collections of papers describe the science, engineering, and societal considerations of the active warning systems in Mexico, Japan, Taiwan, Turkey, and Romania and detail the development and testing of methodologies in the Unites States, Europe, and Asia (Figure 1). This introductory paper summarizes this content to provide an overview of EEW status around the world. We provide a summary of the various early warning methodologies and then describe the active implementation of early warning including the current users, the successes, and the failures. The Perspectives, Misconceptions, and Challenges section provides synthesis on the state of early warning around the world, the progress made in the last few years, some of the lessons learned and misconceptions uncovered, and finally the challenges for the future.
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