A review on the development of earthquake warning system using low-cost sensors in taiwan
Journal
Sensors
Journal Volume
21
Journal Issue
22
Date Issued
2021
Author(s)
Wu Y.-M
Abstract
Seismic instrumentation for earthquake early warnings (EEWs) has improved significantly in the last few years, considering the station coverage, data quality, and the related applications. The official EEW system in Taiwan is operated by the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) and is responsible for issuing the regional warning for moderate-to-large earthquakes occurring in and around Taiwan. The low-cost micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS)-based P-Alert EEW system is operational in Taiwan for on-site warnings and for producing shakemaps. Since 2010, this P-Alert system, installed by the National Taiwan University (NTU), has shown its importance during various earthquakes that caused damage in Taiwan. Although the system is capable of acting as a regional as well as an on-site warning system, it is particularly useful for on-site warning. Using real-time seismic signals, each P-Alert system can provide a 2–8 s-long warning time for the locations situated in the blind zone of the CWB regional warning system. The shakemaps plotted using this instrumentation help to assess the damage pattern and rupture directivity, a key feature in the risk mitigation process. These shakemaps are delivered to the intended users, including the disaster mitigation authorities, for possible relief purposes. Earlier, the network provided only peak ground acceleration (PGA) shakemaps, but has now been updated to include peak ground velocity (PGV), spectral acceleration (Sa ) at different periods, and CWB intensity maps. The PGA and PGV shakemaps plotted using this network have proven helpful in establishing the fact that PGV is a better indicator of damage detection than PGA. This instrumentation is also useful in structural health-monitoring and estimating co-seismic deformations. Encouraged by the performance of the P-Alert network, more instruments are installed in Asia-Pacific countries. ? 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Subjects
Earthquake early warning
MEMS
P-Alert
Shakemaps
Costs
Damage detection
Earthquakes
Risk assessment
Structural health monitoring
Alert systems
Central weather bureaux
Earthquake early warning systems
Low-cost sensors
MEMS (microelectromechanical system)
P-alert
Peak ground acceleration
Peak ground velocity
ShakeMaps
acceleration
Asia
disaster
earthquake
human
Taiwan
Acceleration
Disasters
Humans
Type
review