Project of Creation of an Earthquake Early Warning System for Armenia

Abstract

After the destructive Spitak earthquake of 1988 it became clear that the level of seismic resistance of buildings and constructions in Armenia is significantly lower than the level of seismic hazard. With these conditions the creation of an Early Warning System to warn the population of an earthquake with a magnitude Mgreater than or equal to5.0 become an important element of the seismic risk mitigation in Armenia. The developed project includes the creation of such a system around Yerevan where about 40% of the population of the Republic is concentrated. Within the framework of this project the seismic hazard of Yerevan is analysed according to the data on statistics of the seismicity of the region and historical sources of destructive earthquakes around the capital of Armenia. Evaluation of seismic risk of destruction of buildings and constructions was also performed. The possibility and efficiency of the creation of an EWS to warn the population of Yerevan 3 to 8 s before arrival of a destructive seismic wave are described in this article.