Early warning systems and real time damage assessment

During the past few years, in the framework of a pilot project the Research Unit of SDGEE has installed and operates in real-time a strong motion network of more than 30 instruments in and around Thessaloniki, aiming at contributing to the cutting-edge research effort of seismic risk mitigation in real and near-real time at European level. This network is the backbone of the under-development Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) system in Thessaloniki, the first of such systems to be deployed in Greece. EEW system is combined with results from the dense instrumentation of selected buildings, concerning the building-specific behaviour and vulnerability assessment during earthquakes as well as its alteration with time (time-dependent vulnerability). The objective is to develop a rigorous end-user oriented methodology with appropriate instrumentation setup to provide in real, or almost real, time (e.g. in a few seconds from the generation of the earthquake event and before the seismic waves reach the structure) accurate prediction of the expected seismic damages. The structures that are envisaged for potential installation of the network are public buildings, critical facilities, schools, hospitals, transportation infrastructures (roads, railways, harbour and airport facilities), utility systems (gas, water, waste water networks) and industrial facilities.