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From Shakealert to Post-earthquake Assessment – Applied Technologies to Improve Situation Awareness in Buildings

Description: 

Early warning systems must be optimized through a combination of science and technology that provide a foundation to deliver alerts in the form of actionable information in a manner relevant to the recipient of the alert. The potential disconnect between the systems' technical innovations and the layperson's human behavioral needs can call into question the value of the application. Maximizing the effect of Earthquake Early Warning Systems (EEWS) requires integrating them into the everyday systems and processes of those who rely on them. Because an EEWS serves multiple participants and must address the needs of each in a manner consistent with their expectations – detailed technical information for scientists and engineers, actionable information for emergency responders, and safety instructions for building occupants – the programs, processes, and tools must be carefully designed for and seamlessly integrated into the application for improving situational awareness in buildings.

The EEW alert process flow, from USGS-published ShakeAlert messages to alerting the information user, includes critical design aspects to organize and implement programs to acquire, process, format, and distribute alerts. A dedicated message-handling process for each building minimizes latency and increases overall system reliability and serviceability. Moreover, the parallel processing threads enhance the platform’s scalability. Benchmark testing and real-world data have shown that alerts arrive on average in less than 0.5s at the building’s management console and less than 1.5s at the mobile app. Following the shaking, however, emergency management personnel and responders require another level of information to help guide their actions and decisions. For this reason, our platform delivers earthquake early warning messages as a component of a larger workflow incorporating programs to produce information on the impact of ground motion on the structure, non-structural elements within the structure, and the occupants. The mobile app enables emergency response personnel to submit safety check reports.

Session: Performance and Progress of Earthquake Early Warning Systems Around the World - I

Type: Oral

Date: 4/16/2025

Presentation Time: 09:00 AM (local time)

Presenting Author: Mathias

Student Presenter: No

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