What IoT Can Do for Earthquake Disasters

On March 11, 2011, an earthquake measuring 8.8 on the Richter scale hit Japan’s northeastern coast, triggering a huge tsunami. The tsunami triggered by the earthquake struck dozens of cities and villages on the northern coast of Japan. Up to 10 meters of waves carried away the houses, vehicles, containers and residents, and pushed large ships berthed by the port to land and crashed buildings.

The earthquake was heartless and people all over the world extended their help to Japan. In the face of disasters, search and rescue victims are the top priority, and the intelligent management of disaster relief sites is even more important. What can we do in the face of disasters with booming IoT technology, in the face of earthquakes?

RFID can warn that the most important essence of seismic Internet of Things is RFID tag technology. At present, British scientists are studying the use of RFID and sensors to monitor earthquakes in houses. They called the prototype built in Greece a "self-healing" house. This kind of house has specially designed the gap space in the wall, and the wall has added the material that can become the fluid under the strong pressure. If the pressure caused by the earthquake, the fluid back into the gap will not affect the solid wall. As a result, the home remains, but it may move. If the building does not collapse, the data collected through RFID and sensors will be used to determine the positional offset. In addition, RFID tags and sensors in the building can jointly build an alarm system to alert the upcoming earthquake.

From the time of Zhang Qian’s invention of the earth moving instrument in the Eastern Han Dynasty to the time when British scientists researched RFID and sensors, the means and technical strength of human prediction of earthquakes are constantly improving. It is believed that in the near future, humans will accurately warn the arrival of earthquakes and avoid the casualties and losses caused by the earthquake.

Earthquake Disaster Alarm Reserves Passengers for 18 Seconds Escape "Chuangzhou Zhou" once introduced an earthquake warning technology: seismic waves include longitudinal waves (P-waves) and shear waves (S-waves). P-waves propagate through the air with high speed and low destructive power; Spread underground, slow but destructive. From the longitudinal wave to the transverse wave, the interval is several seconds to several tens of seconds, and the average value is 18 seconds. The earthquake early warning system detects the longitudinal wave warning, and strives to escape from time and emergency in 18 seconds before the shear wave arrives.

As an important member of the urban transportation system, rail transit has become a new topic in how to prevent earthquakes and reduce earthquake damage. At present, some manufacturers have installed earthquake disaster warning systems for rail transit and put them into practical use. Through the Internet of Things, we combine seismic early-warning technology with light-rail related systems to collect, aggregate, and analyze seismic information, and to make judgments and responses. It automatically realizes real-time detection of rail traffic earthquake disasters, timely and accurate warning, and provides accurate data and various decisions for the rail transportation sector to deal with earthquake disasters.

When the earthquake arrives, the sensor placed on the seismic monitor detects the longitudinal wave of the seismic wave. The sensor immediately sends information to the control center for rapid information filtering, analysis and confirmation. If the seismic intensity reaches a preset level, the alarm system will immediately start up. At this time, the moving train is in emergency braking to avoid turning over in an earthquake; the control center issues an alarm to inform the passengers and the train commander; the doors are opened automatically for the emergency evacuation of passengers and a sheltered area is found; the cabin power is automatically cut off to prevent Secondary disasters such as fires... There are many things that can be done in 18 seconds. It sets an emergency escape time and can avoid more casualties and losses.

According to relevant media reports, this earthquake disaster warning system has been planned for the Chengdu Metro Line 1 and is currently being tested by relevant experts. In addition to earthquakes, rail transit disasters include landslides, fires, floods, and foreign objects. With the gradual maturity of technology, the Internet of Things will play an irreplaceable role in the prevention of rail transit disasters.