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PRESUNIVE Civil Engineering Journal, vol. 1, no. 1, April 2023, pp. 31-36
On-Site Earthquake Early Warning System as an Alternative Earthquake
Mitigation Solution in Indonesia
Ika Bali*
Department of Civil Engineering, President University, Cikarang, Indonesia
Received 20 February 2023; received in revised form 10 March 2023; accepted 17 March 2023
Abstract
The Banten earthquake, which had a magnitude of 6.6 on January 14, 2022, damaged 3,078 houses. That
number consisted of 395 heavily damaged units, 692 moderately damaged units and 1,991 lightly damaged units
(Tempo.co, 2022). The Banten earthquake was a strong earthquake where the magnitude was greater than a scale of
5. Damage to houses caused by the earthquake occurred in most single-story houses or low-rise buildings. Given the
large number of one-story houses that are damaged every time a major earthquake occurs in Indonesia, there needs to
be appropriate mitigation measures to reduce the risk of earthquake disasters, especially for human casualties. An
On-site Earthquake Early Warning System (On-site EEWS) can be an alternative in reducing victims of the disaster.
This earthquake early warning system has sensors that are installed on the site of building houses and can predict
strong earthquake waves that are destructive in nature (S/Secondary Waves) through P/Primary Waves that arrive
early in about 10-20 seconds. This time is sufficient for evacuation for the occupants of a one-story house if the early
warning alarm is properly responded to. This early warning radius can reach 20 km from the on-site EEWS location
considering that this area has relatively the same vibration effect. Currently, Indonesia through the BMKG is
developing EEWS as a part of the existing earthquake mitigation system. The purpose of this study is to describe the
application of an on-site earthquake early warning system as an alternative solution for earthquake mitigation in
Indonesia. This study evaluates several EEWS applications in the literature to find the best alternative to be applied
in Indonesia. The critical factors for on-site implementation of the EEWS discussed in this paper are compared with
the Taiwan regional EEWS. Based on the existing validation, the on-site EEWS has an 80% accuracy rate in
predicting the intensity level of a strong earthquake, capable to automatically send an alarm message within 3
seconds and providing a warning time of at least 8 seconds before a destructive peak S wave arrives.
Keywords: earthquake early warning, earthquake disaster, on-site EEWS
1. Introduction
Earthquake mitigation is a series of efforts to reduce the risk of earthquake disasters. The major earthquake disaster
mitigation scheme includes the Earthquake Preparedness Stage, the Emergency Response Sta ge, and the Post-Earthquake
Restoration Stage. The Earthquake Preparedness Stage includes a program for developing and revising earthquake regulations,
seismic and retrofit assessments, and isolation of critical facilities. These programs include proposing seismic provisions a nd
revisions, seismic assessment and retrofit, isolation technology for critical facilities, ensuring life and property safety, and
preparing disaster mitigation and rescue plans [1].
* Corresponding author. E-mail address: ika.bali@president.ac.id
Tel.: +62(0)21 89109763
PRESUNIVE Civil Engineering Journal, vol. 1, no. 1, April 2023, pp. 31-36
32
The Emergency Response Phase includes the EEWS (Earthquake Early Warning System) program, initial seismic loss
estimation, and monitoring the health of building structures. Activities in this program are early warning of strong earthquake
attacks, early loss estimation, and monitoring of critical infrastructure, and emergency response actions. Whereas in the
Post-Earthquake Restoration Stage, programs that can be carried out are Rapid Recovery Technology, Rapid Evaluation
Technology, and Structural Collapse Simulation. Activities at this stage provide post-earthquake rescue facilities, rapid
evaluation of structural damage status, and help restore buildings [1]. This study discusses the Earthquake Early Warning
System as part of earthquake disaster mitigation in the Emergency Response Stage.
Indonesia does not currently have an effective earthquake early warning system (EEWS) to warn th e public before the
actual waves of damaging earthquakes occur. The information on the magnitude of the earthquake detected and published is
the peak of the earthquake wave so there is no warning time for the community to evacuate before the destructive earthquake
wave arrives.
The on-site earthquake early warning system (On-site EEWS) can be an alternative solution because it is able to detect the
initial wave (P/primary wave) and provide an early warning alarm so that people living in one-floor houses or on the first floor
of a building can evacuate before the peak destructive S/secondary/shear waves occur [2]. Evacuation of occupants of a
one-story house is important because based on data on house damage due to the earthquake, most one-story houses or low-rise
buildings occurred [3], [4]. As one example, the Banten earthquake which occurred on January 14, 2022, had a magnitude of
6.6 and caused as many as 3,078 houses to be damaged. This number consisted of 395 housing units which were heavily
damaged, 692 units were moderately damaged, and 1,991 units were slightly damaged [4]. Considering that most one-story
houses are damaged every time a strong earthquake (scale M> 5) occurs in Indonesia, there needs to be appropriate earthquake
mitigation measures to reduce the risk of an earthquake disaster, especially for human casualties. This study aims to describe
the implementation of an on-site earthquake early warning system as an alternative earthquake mitigation solution in
Indonesia.
2. Material and Method
This study evaluates several EEWS applications in the literature specifically related to EEWS developed in Taiwan to get
one of the best alternatives to be implemented in Indonesia. Important factors for the implementation of the on -site
EEWS/on-site earthquake early warning system discussed in this paper are compared with the Taiwan regional EEWS.
The development of an on-site earthquake early warning system has been carried out in Taiwan [5] coordinated by
NCREE (National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering). The development of an on-site earthquake early warning
system in addition to the existence of the Taiwan regional EEWS is very reasonable because this country is a country that has
earthquake-prone conditions similar to earthquake conditions in Indonesia which are above active tectonic plates [6]. The
combination of the on-site earthquake early warning system and regional EEWS in Taiwan has been verified as an effective
tool for earthquake disaster prevention in elementary schools in Taiwan [7].
The on-site earthquake early warning system is able to predict the initial waves (P-waves) which will come faster than the
destructive S waves because the velocity of the P waves is around 5~7 km/sec, while the more destructive S waves are around
3~4 km/sec. The on-site earthquake early warning system takes advantage of the difference in the velocity of the two waves as
an opportunity for earthquake disaster mitigation in reducing human casualties. In a very minimal time calculation using
previously detected P waves, it can predict the intensity of future strong earthquakes which are very damaging in nature [8]. In
the on-site earthquake early warning system, to reduce or even eliminate false alarms due to non-earthquake vibrations caused
by human or vehicle vibrations, the on-site EEWS is equipped with backup sensors. The on-site EEWS system, which is
equipped with a backup sensor, can distinguish wave signals caused by earthquakes and non-earthquakes [9].
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In its development, the performance of the on-site earthquake early warning system has been verified with several
earthquake events in Taiwan. One of them was the Meinong earthquake on February 5, 2016. During the Meinong earthquake
there were no false alarms or missed alarms issued by the on-site earthquake early warning system [10]. The performance of
the on-site earthquake early warning system was also proven during the Hualien Taiwan earthquake which occurred on
February 6, 2018, especially for areas close to the epicenter where damage is more likely to occur, the system can provide early
warning through an alarm before the occurrence of a damaging earthquake wave so that fatalities due to earthquakes can be
significantly reduced [11]. To sound an early warning of the intensity of an impending earthquake, the on-site earthquake early
warning system uses an artificial neural network (ANN) model to predict peak ground acceleration (PGA) from ground motion
records based on P-wave parameters [12].
In this study, the application of the on-site earthquake early warning system used is based on the on-site EEWS developed
by NCREE Taiwan. The on-site earthquake early warning system is an earthquake early warning system whose sensors are
installed in the ground at the building site. In brief, the working principle of the on-site earthquake early warning system is as
follows. Sensors installed on the ground capture the initial earthquake waves (P-waves), then proceed to the calculation system
to produce predictions of earthquake intensity. If a certain intensity is generated that is dangerous, the system will
automatically trigger an alarm so that people can evacuate before the more destructive S wave arrives. This system is also
equipped with backup sensors to distinguish between the initial seismic waves and non-seismic waves caused by vibrations
caused by humans and passing vehicles. The on-site earthquake early warning system equipment consists of routers, DAQ data
acquisition systems, IPC, UPS, initial wave receiving sensors, and backup sensors (Fig. 1). The on-site earthquake early
warning system provides a local prediction tool for coverage of areas with the same vibration range within a 20 km radius from
the location of the on-site EEWS tool (Fig. 2).
Fig. 1 On-site earthquake early warning system
PRESUNIVE Civil Engineering Journal, vol. 1, no. 1, April 2023, pp. 31-36
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Fig. 2 The coverage area of the on-site earthquake early warning system
Due to the similarity of the coverage of the vibration area within a 20 km radius of the on-site EEWS tool, an earthquake
early warning alarm can be broadcast to residents in the coverage area for evacuation if a damaging earthquake intensity is
predicted. The evacuation referred to here is for residents of houses or buildings on the first floor considering the short early
warning time before the peak of the S wave occurs. Meanwhile, occupants of houses or buildings on the second floor and above
can protect themselves according to existing earthquake mitigation standards.
Important factors in implementing an on-site earthquake early warning system are the level of accuracy in predicting
earthquake intensity and early warning time based on the initial capture of the primary earthquake wave (P -wave) [13]. To
investigate the effectiveness of this on-site earthquake early warning system, important factors in the application of the system
such as the accuracy of the prediction of earthquake intensity, the time when the early warning was broadcast, and the ear ly
warning time before the peak of the S wave, will be compared with the Taiwan regional EEWS which will be discussed in the
following section.
3. Results and Discussion
A comparison of the important factors in the application of the on-site earthquake early warning system (accuracy in
predicting the intensity of an earthquake, when the early warning is broadcast, and when the early warning before the peak of
the S wave) with the Taiwan regional EEWS can be seen in Table 1.
Table 1 Comparison of important factors in the application of earthquake early warning systems
Factor
EEWS
on-site
regional
The level of accuracy of the prediction of
earthquake intensity
80%
secure
Alert time is broadcast
3 seconds
18~20 seconds
Warning time before peak S-wave
minimum 8 seconds
no minimum time
PRESUNIVE Civil Engineering Journal, vol. 1, no. 1, April 2023, pp. 31-36
35
Table 1 indicates that the level of accuracy of the prediction of earthquake intensity by the on-site EEWS is 80%, alert time is
broadcast in 3 seconds, and warning time before peak S-wave is minimum 8 seconds [5]. Meanwhile the regional EEWS
provides a secure level of accuracy of the prediction of earthquake intensity, alert time is broadcast in 18~20 seconds, and no
minimum warning time before peak S-wave [7]. Based on comparative data on important factors for earthquake early warning
system applications in Table 1, the on-site earthquake early warning system provides faster prediction results with a
warning time of 3 seconds being issued/broadcast, while the warning time before the peak S wave is at least 8 second s.
This is possible because only the data collected by the on-site seismic sensors are used in the calculation system so that
the data processing time is significantly reduced, and earthquake alarms can be published earlier in the affected areas.
For example, in the case of the Taiwan Chi-chi earthquake on September 21,1999 which had an epicenter distance to
Taipei County city of about 150 km, the on-site earthquake early warning system could issue an earthquake strike
warning 34.02 seconds before the peak of the S wave arrived in the Taipei County area. Compared to the regional EEWS,
the on-site earthquake early warning system provides an additional 27.3 seconds of response time [6].
For locations close to the epicenter such as 70 km from the epicenter, the on-site earthquake early warning system
can provide a warning time of 10~20 seconds before the peak earthquake wave arrives. A warning time of 10~20 seconds
is considered reasonable or sufficient for the evacuation of occupants on the first floor of a hou se or building. This
warning time can be distributed to coverage areas with a radius of 20 km from the location of the on -site earthquake early
warning system considering that this area has relatively the same vibration effect [5].
4. Conclusions
This study has described the application of an effective on-site earthquake early warning system in earthquake mitigation
which is supported by important factors in its application such as the level of accuracy in predicting earthquake intensity, the
time the warning is issued, and the early warning time before the peak of the S wave. on-site earthquake early warning in
predicting the level of earthquake intensity accurately is 80% based on validation tests, and the warning time is broadcast
within 3 seconds. Meanwhile, the earthquake early warning time is at least 8 seconds before the peak of the damaging S wave
arrives. Early warning alarm messages can be broadcast to a coverage area that has a relatively similar vibration effect with a
radius of 20 km from the position of the on-site earthquake early warning system device with the aim that people in the area can
leave their homes to save themselves before the peak of the damaging S earthquake wave arrives.
For the development of an on-site earthquake early warning system in the future, with an increasing number of on-site
EEWS nodes, they can then be connected to each other to form a national EEWS network.
Acknowledgments
The author expresses his deepest gratitude to NCREE Taiwan and Taiwan Tech for training opportunities on-site
earthquake early warning systems with grant funding from NCREE Taiwan which has provided support for the writing of this
paper.
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