← Back to Gallery

Towards Public Earthquake Early Warning Across Central America

In Central America, devastating ground shaking from large subduction earthquakes and moderate shallow crustal earthquakes close to cities can be expected to cause widespread collapse of infrastructure. As the earthquake risk increases due to the rise of population density, and in the absence of significant initiatives to improve the building stock, alternative ways to mitigate the risk to the vulnerable populations should be a priority. An Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) system coupled with rapid public distribution and appropriate response training, can allow the population and decision makers to take actions that reduce injuries and fatalities from damaging shaking. National seismic networks in Guatemala (INSIVUMEH), El Salvador (MARN), Nicaragua (INETER) and Costa Rica (OVSICORI-UNA) are collaborating with SED/ETH-Zurich to build and operate EEW in the ATTAC project (Alerta Temprana de Terremotos en América Central). At its core, the EEW system operates on the existing high quality seismic networks and implements the ETHZ-SED SeisComP EEW (ESE) system with the Virtual Seismologist and the Finite-Fault Rupture Detector algorithms. We report on the status of EEW in the region. To date, the ESE system has been running in 3 centers; densification of the seismic monitoring networks with 71 EEW-ready accelerographs has been completed; training for improving network practice and operating EEW software has been provided across the region; and test users get alerts from an alert dissemination platform using emerging digital TV technology that can scale to the population. We analyze EEW performance and demonstrate significant warning times before S wave arrival from shallow earthquakes on-shore and near-shore routinely identified within 10–20 s of their origin times. Within the next 2 years, we aim to operate public EEW in at least one participant country and to create long-lasting governance mechanisms within each nation that can support EEW after the project is concluded.

Session: Advances in Earthquake Early Warning: Research, Development, Current State of Practice and Social Science I

Type: Oral

Room: Cedar

Date: 4/21/2022

Presentation Time: 08:30 AM Pacific

Presenting Author: Frederick Massin

Student Presenter: No

Additional Authors