A framework to quantify the effectiveness of earthquake early warning in mitigating seismic risk
OPEN ACCESS
Author / Producer
Date
2023-05
Publication Type
Journal Article
ETH Bibliography
yes
Citations
Altmetric
OPEN ACCESS
Data
Rights / License
Abstract
Earthquake early warning systems (EEWSs) aim to rapidly detect earthquakes and provide timely alerts, so that users can take protective actions prior to the onset of strong ground shaking. The promise and limitations of EEWSs have both been widely debated. On one hand, an operational EEWS could mitigate earthquake damage by triggering potentially cost- and life-saving actions. These range from automated system responses such as slowing down trains to the actions of individuals that receive the alerts and take protective measures. On the other hand, the effectiveness of an EEWS is conditional on the ability to issue warnings that are sufficiently accurate and timely to facilitate an appropriate action. The refinement of earthquake early warning (EEW) algorithms and the installation of denser and faster seismic networks have improved performance; however, the benefit in risk reduction that an EEWS could achieve remains unquantified. In this study, we leverage upon regional event-based probabilistic seismic risk assessment to devise a quantitative and fully customizable framework for evaluating the effectiveness of EEW in mitigating seismic risk. We demonstrate this framework using Switzerland as a testbed, for which we compute and contrast human loss exceedance curves with and without EEW.
Permanent link
Publication status
published
External links
Editor
Book title
Journal / series
Volume
39 (2)
Pages / Article No.
938 - 961
Publisher
SAGE
Event
Edition / version
Methods
Software
Geographic location
Date collected
Date created
Subject
Earthquake early warning; earthquake risk; risk mitigation; effectiveness of EEW; protective action
Organisational unit
02818 - Schweiz. Erdbebendienst (SED) / Swiss Seismological Service (SED)
Notes
Funding
821115 - Real-time Earthquake Risk Reduction for Europe (EC)