The majority of one-story houses, which are also non-engineered buildings, are damaged every time a strong earthquake (magnitude more than 5) occurs in Indonesia. Non-engineered buildings are defined as those buildings constructed spontaneously and informally in various countries. The building is made traditionally, without any or little involvement by qualified architects and or engineers in its design. So, there needs to be an appropriate earthquake mitigation effort for this type of building. This will help to reduce the risk of an earthquake damage, especially any human casualties. The Earthquake Early Warning System (EEWS) can be an alternative solution to this problem.
Thus said Prof. Ir. Ika Bali, M.Eng., Ph.D., lecturer of the Civil Engineering Study Program, President University (PresUniv), in a webinar entitled Proposed Application of The On-Site Earthquake Early Warning System (EEWS) in Indonesia, Tuesday (26/4). The webinar is hosted by the President University Civil Engineering Major Association. Prof. Ika said, the on-site EEWS can detect the initial earthquake wave (P wave) and provide an early warning alarm, so that people living in one-story houses or on the first floor of the buildings can be evacuated before the peak wave (S wave) occurs.
Furthermore, Prof. Ika explained the workings of the on-site EEWS. “On-site EEWS has sensors that are installed on the site of building houses and can detect incoming P waves that arrive early in about 10-20 seconds before the S wave and this provides an early warning for evacuation before the arrival of the S wave,” explained. Prof. Ika added that this system is also equipped with a backup sensor to distinguish between the initial earthquake waves and non-earthquake waves (caused by vehicles or humans). (Gilang Suryanata, PR team. Photo: Doc. PUMA Civil Engineering)
Source: https://president.ac.id/p/148-actual/detail/1413-on-site-eews-system-capable-of-detecting-p-wave