A few seconds of warning before a major earthquake could save lives. That's why state legislators passed a bill last year asking for a seismic early warning system. Federal geologists have a prototype in place, but it would cost tens of millions of dollars to scale up.

Now, a private company says it could get the job done for a lot less. Southern California Public Radio’s Sanden Totten says that claim is causing somewhat of a rift in the quake community.