Optimization of Low-Cost Monitoring Systems for On-Site Earthquake Early-Warning of Critical Infrastructures

Abstract

In the last years, monitoring systems based on low-cost and miniaturized sensors (MEMS) revealed as a very successful compromise between the availability of data and their quality. Also applications in the field of seismic and structural monitoring have been constantly increasing in term of number and variety of functions. Among these applications, the implementation of systems for earthquake early warning is a cutting-edge topic, mainly for its relevance for the society as millions of peoples in various regions of the world are exposed to high seismic hazard. This paper introduces the optimization of an already established seismic (and structural) monitoring system, that would make it suitable for the implementation of the earthquake early warning. In particular, the sampling code has been improved and a new triggering algorithm able to automatically detect the ground shaking due to the propagation of the seismic waves has been developed. The preliminary results indicate that the system is very flexible and easy to implement, and encourage to perform further developing steps.