Earthquake Alert System feasibility study

Technical Report · Sun Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1991

OSTI ID:5474351

Harben, P E

An Earthquake Alert System (EAS) could give several seconds to several tens of seconds warning before the strong motion from a large earthquake arrives. Such a system would include a large network of sensors distributed within an earthquake-prone region. The sensors closest to the epicenter of a particular earthquake would transmit data at the speed of light to a central processing center, which would broadcast an area-wide alarm in advance of the spreading elastic wave energy from the earthquake. This is possible because seismic energy travels slowly (3--6 km/s) compared to the speed of light. Utilities, public and private institutions, businesses, and the general public would benefit from an EAS. Although many earthquake protection systems exist that automatically shut down power, gas mains, etc. when ground motion at a facility reaches damaging levels, not EAS -- that is, a system that can provide warning in advance of elastic wave energy arriving at a facility -- has ever been developed in the United States. A recent study by the National Academy of Sciences (NRC, 1991) concludes that an EAS is technically feasible and strongly recommends installing a prototype system that makes use of existing microseismic stations as much as possible. The EAS concept discussed here consists of a distributed network of remote seismic stations that measure weak and strong earth motion and transmit the data in real time to central facility. This facility processes the data and issues warning broadcasts in the form of information packets containing estimates of earthquake location, zero time (the time the earthquake began), magnitude, and reliability of the predictions. User of the warning broadcasts have a dedicated receiver that monitors the warning broadcast frequency. The user also has preprogrammed responses that are automatically executed when the warning information packets contain location and magnitude estimates above a facility's tolerance.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 5474351
• Report Number(s): UCRL-LR-109625; ON: DE92011816
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290300* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Environment
Health
& Safety
58 GEOSCIENCES
580000 -- Geosciences
ALARM SYSTEMS
EARTHQUAKES
EMERGENCY PLANS
FEASIBILITY STUDIES
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
MOTION DETECTION SYSTEMS
PLANNING
REMOTE SENSING
SEISMIC ARRAYS
SEISMIC DETECTORS
SEISMIC EVENTS
SEISMOGRAPHS