Sep-2024

Earthquake warning system (RI 2024)

More than 59% of India’s land area is under threat from moderate to severe seismic hazards.

Rajasekhar M, Rajeev Nayan and Saikat Bhowal
Engineers India Ltd. R&D Complex

Article Summary

Major strategic installations, such as refineries, petrochemical plants, power plants, nuclear establishments, and metro/rail networks, are spread across areas that are prone to seismic activity. Protecting these critical infrastructures is crucial. The Earthquake Warning System (EqWS) is a technological solution designed to prevent significant loss of human life and infrastructure caused by earthquakes. It can activate appropriate safety measures during an impending earthquake.

EqWS detects earthquakes immediately from the primary waves, before the destructive secondary and surface waves arrive. This advanced technology provides early warning based on ground acceleration values and additional safety measures that can reduce the catastrophic impacts of seismic events.

The system is devised for regional notification of a substantial earthquake using a voting system of seismic sensing nodes (SSN). Multiple nodes are used to avoid false alarms caused by human activities. These SSNs are strategically located to gather information about seismic activity and send it to a central control unit (CCU), which then makes decisions about potential earthquakes based on the signals from individual nodes. The CCU will then issue audio-visual warnings for impending earthquakes with estimated severity levels.

The CCU also sends messages to the emergency alert delivery system to activate various alarms and emergency departments, as well as plant operating systems to take measures based on predefined standard operating procedures (SoPs).

Components/Features
SSN: Comprises a seismic accelerometer sensor, motherboard/processor, GPS receiver card, and communication modules. SSNs gather information about seismic activity and communicate it to the CCU. They also send the health status of the node based on built-in diagnostics.

CCU: The CCU is equipped with an interactive user interface and maintains the central recording system database. It is the main user interface, providing information on the latest seismic events, data log events of all seismic activities, and health monitoring of all connected SSNs.

Event recordings: Graphically depict the latest seismic activities/events sensed by a predetermined  number of nodes along with the peak ground acceleration (PGA) value captured by each node.

Emergency alert delivery system: Generates SMS for concerned parties, sends notifications, and activates sirens and speakers.

EqWS has been developed internally and granted a patent. It is proven, having already been commissioned in 2016 and working accurately since then. The system is particularly useful for refineries, petrochemical plants, and other facilities with numerous critical equipment and processes. It can provide earthquake warning alerts, enabling proactive measures to prevent natural hazard-triggered technological disasters (Natech) events.

EIL and its technology partner CSIR-Central Scientific Instruments Organisation (CSIO) can offer advice and support based on specific project requirements. Technological solutions for different industries and situations are specific to each site and application; there is no one-size-fits-all solution. The EIL-powered Earthquake Warning System can be customised to meet the needs of a specific application or industry.

This short article originally appeared in the 2024 Refining India Newspaper, which you can VIEW HERE