Comparing the Performance of the NEEWS Earthquake Early Warning System Against the CWB System During the 6 February 2018 Mw 6.2 Hualien Earthquake

• Published in: Geophysical research letters 2018-06, Vol.45 (12), p.6001-6007
• Main Authors: Hsu, T. Y., Lin, P. Y., Wang, H. H., Chiang, H. W., Chang, Y. W., Kuo, C. H., Lin, C. M., Wen, K. L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acceleration; Accuracy; Building failures; Buildings; Classification; Early warning systems; Earthquake damage; Earthquake engineering; Earthquake prediction; Earthquakes; Emergency communications systems; Fatalities; Injuries; Mortality; Seismic activity; Seismic engineering; Weather
• ISSN: 0094-8276; 1944-8007
• DOI: 10.1029/2018GL078079

The National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering, Taiwan, has developed an Earthquake Early Warning System (NEEWS). The NEEWS predicts peak ground acceleration (PGA) using an on‐site approach, whereas the Central Weather Bureau (CWB), Taiwan, uses a regional approach. Earthquake alerts are issued at the NEEWS stations once PGA reaches a preassigned PGA threshold, regardless of the approach used. An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.2 and a focal depth of 10.0 km struck Hualien, in eastern Taiwan, on 6 February 2018. It resulted in 17 fatalities and 285 injuries, 4 collapsed buildings, and damage to more than 175 buildings. During the earthquake, the system performance of 28 NEEWS stations was documented. In this study, we compare and discuss the accuracy of the PGA predictions, lead times, and classification performance of both approaches. Plain Language Summary The National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering, Taiwan, has developed an Earthquake Early Warning System (NEEWS). The NEEWS predicts peak ground acceleration (PGA) using an on‐site approach, whereas the Central Weather Bureau (CWB), Taiwan, uses a regional approach. Earthquake alerts are issued at the NEEWS stations once PGA reaches a preassigned PGA threshold, regardless of the approach used. On 6 February 2018, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.2 and a focal depth of 10.0 km struck Hualien, in eastern Taiwan. It resulted in 17 fatalities and 285 injuries, 4 collapsed buildings, and damage to more than 175 buildings. During the earthquake, the system performance of 28 NEEWS stations was documented. In this study, we compare and discuss the accuracy of the PGA predictions, lead times, and classification performance of both approaches. Key Points This study compares the real‐time performance of two earthquake early warning systems (EEWS) for the 2018 Hualian earthquake The classification performance rates of the on‐site EEWS are 60% and 40% should a reasonable tolerance range be accepted No correct alerts were issued in time by the regional EEWS, even after a reasonable tolerance range was accepted