scholarly journals Developments of the Nationwide Earthquake Early Warning System in Japan After the 2011 Mw9.0 Tohoku-Oki Earthquake

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuki Kodera ◽  
Naoki Hayashimoto ◽  
Koji Tamaribuchi ◽  
Keishi Noguchi ◽  
Ken Moriwaki ◽  
...  

In Japan, the nationwide earthquake early warning (EEW) system has been being operated by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) since 2007, disseminating information on imminent strong ground motion to the general public and advanced technical users. In the beginning of the operation, the system ran based mainly on standard source-based algorithms with a point-source location estimate and ground motion prediction equation. The point-source algorithms successfully provided ground motion predictions with high accuracy during the initial operation; however, the 2011 Mw9.0 Tohoku-Oki earthquake and the subsequent intense aftershock and triggered earthquake activities underscored the weaknesses of the source-based approach. In this paper, we summarize major system developments after the Tohoku-Oki event to overcome the limits of the standard point-source algorithms and to enhance the EEW performance further. In addition, we evaluate how the system performance was influenced by the updates. One of significant improvements in the JMA EEW system was the implementation of two new ground motion prediction methods: the integrated particle filter (IPF) and propagation of local undamped motion (PLUM) algorithms. IPF is a robust point-source algorithm based on the Bayesian inference, and PLUM is a wavefield-based algorithm that predicts ground motions directly from observed shakings. Another notable update was the incorporation of new observation facilities including S-net, a large-scale ocean bottom seismometer network deployed along the Japan and Kuril trenches. The prediction accuracy and warning issuance performance analysis for the updated JMA EEW system showed that IPF improved the source-based ground motion prediction accuracy and reduced the risk of issuing overpredicted warnings. PLUM made the system less likely to underpredict strong ground motions and improved the warning issuance timeliness. The detection time analysis for the S-net incorporation suggested that S-net enabled the system to issue the first EEW report earlier than before the S-net incorporation for earthquakes around the Japan and Kuril trenches. Those findings indicate that the JMA EEW system has made substantial progress both on software and hardware aspects over the 10 years after the Tohoku-Oki earthquake.

2019 ◽  
Vol 109 (4) ◽  
pp. 1524-1541 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth S. Cochran ◽  
Julian Bunn ◽  
Sarah E. Minson ◽  
Annemarie S. Baltay ◽  
Deborah L. Kilb ◽  
...  

Abstract We test the Japanese ground‐motion‐based earthquake early warning (EEW) algorithm, propagation of local undamped motion (PLUM), in southern California with application to the U.S. ShakeAlert system. In late 2018, ShakeAlert began limited public alerting in Los Angeles to areas of expected modified Mercalli intensity (IMMI) 4.0+ for magnitude 5.0+ earthquakes. Most EEW systems, including ShakeAlert, use source‐based methods: they estimate the location, magnitude, and origin time of an earthquake from P waves and use a ground‐motion prediction equation to identify regions of expected strong shaking. The PLUM algorithm uses observed ground motions directly to define alert areas and was developed to address deficiencies in the Japan Meteorological Agency source‐based EEW system during the 2011 Mw 9.0 Tohoku earthquake sequence. We assess PLUM using (a) a dataset of 193 magnitude 3.5+ earthquakes that occurred in southern California between 2012 and 2017 and (b) the ShakeAlert testing and certification suite of 49 earthquakes and other seismic signals. The latter suite includes events that challenge the current ShakeAlert algorithms. We provide a first‐order performance assessment using event‐based metrics similar to those used by ShakeAlert. We find that PLUM can be configured to successfully issue alerts using IMMI trigger thresholds that are lower than those implemented in Japan. Using two stations, a trigger threshold of IMMI 4.0 for the first station and a threshold of IMMI 2.5 for the second station PLUM successfully detect 12 of 13 magnitude 5.0+ earthquakes and issue no false alerts. PLUM alert latencies were similar to and in some cases faster than source‐based algorithms, reducing area that receives no warning near the source that generally have the highest ground motions. PLUM is a simple, independent seismic method that may complement existing source‐based algorithms in EEW systems, including the ShakeAlert system, even when alerting to light (IMMI 4.0) or higher ground‐motion levels.


2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zeynep Gülerce ◽  
Bahadır Kargoığlu ◽  
Norman A. Abrahamson

The objective of this paper is to evaluate the differences between the Next Generation Attenuation: West-1 (NGA-W1) ground motion prediction models (GMPEs) and the Turkish strong ground motion data set and to modify the required pieces of the NGA-W1 models for applicability in Turkey. A comparison data set is compiled by including strong motions from earthquakes that occurred in Turkey and earthquake metadata of ground motions consistent with the NGA-W1 database. Random-effects regression is employed and plots of the residuals are used to evaluate the differences in magnitude, distance, and site amplification scaling. Incompatibilities between the NGA-W1 GMPEs and Turkish data set in small-to-moderate magnitude, large distance, and site effects scaling are encountered. The NGA-W1 GMPEs are modified for the misfit between the actual ground motions and the model predictions using adjustments functions. Turkey-adjusted NGA-W1 models are compatible with the regional strong ground motion characteristics and preserve the well-constrained features of the global models.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ran N. Nof ◽  
Itzhak Lior ◽  
Ittai Kurzon

The Geological Survey of Israel has upgraded and expanded the national Israeli Seismic Network (ISN), with more than 110 stations country-wide, as part of the implementation of a governmental decision to build a national Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) system named TRUAA. This upgraded seismic network exhibits a high station density and fast telemetry. The stations are distributed mainly along the main fault systems, the Dead Sea Transform, and the Carmel-Zfira Fault, which may potentially produce Mw 7.5 earthquakes. The system has recently entered a limited operational phase, allowing for initial performance estimation. Real-time performance during eight months of operation (41 earthquakes) matches expectations. Alert delays (interval between origin-time and Earthquake Early Warning alert time) are reduced to as low as 3 s, and source parameter errorstatistics are within expected values found in previous works using historical data playbacks. An evolutionary alert policy is implemented based on a magnitude threshold of Mw 4.2 and peak ground accelerations exceeding 2 cm/s2. A comparison between different ground motion prediction equations (GMPE) is presented for earthquakes from Israel and California using median ground motion prediction equations values. This analysis shows that a theoretical GMPE produced the best agreement with observed ground motions, with less bias and lower uncertainties. The performance of this GMPE was found to improve when an earthquake specific stress drop is implemented.


2014 ◽  
Vol 198 (3) ◽  
pp. 1438-1457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maren Böse ◽  
Robert W. Graves ◽  
David Gill ◽  
Scott Callaghan ◽  
Philip J. Maechling

2020 ◽  
Vol 91 (2A) ◽  
pp. 826-834
Author(s):  
Yuki Kodera ◽  
Naoki Hayashimoto ◽  
Ken Moriwaki ◽  
Keishi Noguchi ◽  
Jun Saito ◽  
...  

Abstract The propagation of local undamped motion (PLUM) algorithm is a wavefield-based method that predicts ground motions using direct observations. In March 2018, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) implemented PLUM into its nationwide earthquake early warning (EEW) system, in order to enhance system robustness for complex earthquake scenarios in which traditional source-based algorithms fail to provide accurate and timely ground-motion predictions. This was the first nationwide EEW system to implement a wavefield-based methodology. Here, we evaluate the performance of PLUM during its first year of implementation in the JMA EEW system, using earthquakes that occurred between March 2018 and March 2019; these include 13 earthquakes that satisfied the public warning issuance criteria. Our analysis shows that PLUM predicted ground motions without significant errors and reduced the number of missed warnings. These findings indicate that introducing the wavefield-based methodology benefits EEW users with high tolerance of false alarms, including the general public.


2021 ◽  
pp. 875529302110275
Author(s):  
Carlos A Arteta ◽  
Cesar A Pajaro ◽  
Vicente Mercado ◽  
Julián Montejo ◽  
Mónica Arcila ◽  
...  

Subduction ground motions in northern South America are about a factor of 2 smaller than the ground motions for similar events in other regions. Nevertheless, historical and recent large-interface and intermediate-depth slab earthquakes of moment magnitudes Mw = 7.8 (Ecuador, 2016) and 7.2 (Colombia, 2012) evidenced the vast potential damage that vulnerable populations close to earthquake epicenters could experience. This article proposes a new empirical ground-motion prediction model for subduction events in northern South America, a regionalization of the global AG2020 ground-motion prediction equations. An updated ground-motion database curated by the Colombian Geological Survey is employed. It comprises recordings from earthquakes associated with the subduction of the Nazca plate gathered by the National Strong Motion Network in Colombia and by the Institute of Geophysics at Escuela Politécnica Nacional in Ecuador. The regional terms of our model are estimated with 539 records from 60 subduction events in Colombia and Ecuador with epicenters in the range of −0.6° to 7.6°N and 75.5° to 79.6°W, with Mw≥4.5, hypocentral depth range of 4 ≤  Zhypo ≤ 210 km, for distances up to 350 km. The model includes forearc and backarc terms to account for larger attenuation at backarc sites for slab events and site categorization based on natural period. The proposed model corrects the median AG2020 global model to better account for the larger attenuation of local ground motions and includes a partially non-ergodic variance model.


2021 ◽  
pp. 875529302110039
Author(s):  
Filippos Filippitzis ◽  
Monica D Kohler ◽  
Thomas H Heaton ◽  
Robert W Graves ◽  
Robert W Clayton ◽  
...  

We study ground-motion response in urban Los Angeles during the two largest events (M7.1 and M6.4) of the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence using recordings from multiple regional seismic networks as well as a subset of 350 stations from the much denser Community Seismic Network. In the first part of our study, we examine the observed response spectral (pseudo) accelerations for a selection of periods of engineering significance (1, 3, 6, and 8 s). Significant ground-motion amplification is present and reproducible between the two events. For the longer periods, coherent spectral acceleration patterns are visible throughout the Los Angeles Basin, while for the shorter periods, the motions are less spatially coherent. However, coherence is still observable at smaller length scales due to the high spatial density of the measurements. Examining possible correlations of the computed response spectral accelerations with basement depth and Vs30, we find the correlations to be stronger for the longer periods. In the second part of the study, we test the performance of two state-of-the-art methods for estimating ground motions for the largest event of the Ridgecrest earthquake sequence, namely three-dimensional (3D) finite-difference simulations and ground motion prediction equations. For the simulations, we are interested in the performance of the two Southern California Earthquake Center 3D community velocity models (CVM-S and CVM-H). For the ground motion prediction equations, we consider four of the 2014 Next Generation Attenuation-West2 Project equations. For some cases, the methods match the observations reasonably well; however, neither approach is able to reproduce the specific locations of the maximum response spectral accelerations or match the details of the observed amplification patterns.


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