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The Development of a Real-Time Urban Earthquake Early Warning System for Asset-Level Protection for Increased Community Restoration

Description: 

A Real-Time Urban Earthquake Early Warning System is being developed at the University of British Columbia. This system is based on a dense grid of low-cost seismic stations mounted on infrastructure (i.e., buildings, bridges, power substations) every 50 to 100 m apart. The edges in the grid are represented with transmission line models that decouple the adjacent nodes with the wave’s propagation time, making it very computationally efficient. Each station consists of a MEMS tri-axial accelerometer, a Raspberry Pi processing board and a 5G communication module. As soon as the wave is detected, the grid model will calculate, in a few milliseconds, the predicted values at all other nodes before the wave arrives. As the wave progresses, the predicted values are updated. With this solution, we can achieve a high spatial and high temporal resolution. The fine spatial resolution captures the variability in geological conditions within a city. Combining this high resolution with existing fragility curves, we can predict the level of damage at the individual infrastructure level. In addition, discriminating automatic protective actions can be taken, such as disconnecting electrical circuit breakers to prevent fires, a major cause of damage and death. Detailed real-time knowledge of the damage level at each infrastructure is integral for post-earthquake recovery. During a disaster, when multiple support systems fail simultaneously, decisions about where to deploy resources must be made based on the consequences to the community. These decisions require tools that consider each infrastructure’s current state of damage and the strength of the interdependencies each has with the others. With the use of an interdependencies optimization tool, prioritized response actions can be taken to restore habitability to the community as quickly as possible for increased community resilience and well-being.

Session: End-to-End Advancements in Earthquake Early Warning Systems - III

Type: Oral

Date: 5/3/2024

Presentation Time: 08:15 AM (local time)

Presenting Author: Andrea

Student Presenter: Yes

Invited Presentation: 

Authors