Magnitude determination for Earthquake Early Warning using P-Alert low-cost sensors during 2024 Mw7.4 Hualien, Taiwan earthquake

Magnitude determination for Earthquake Early Warning using P-Alert low-cost sensors during 2024 Mw7.4 Hualien, Taiwan earthquake | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Magnitude determination for Earthquake Early Warning using P-Alert low-cost sensors during 2024 Mw7.4 Hualien, Taiwan earthquake Yueh-Ho Lin, Yih-Min Wu This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5892282/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 12 Apr, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted 8 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Magnitude determination in earthquake early warning (EEW) systems remains a significant challenge. On April 2, 2024, a Mw 7.4 earthquake struck Taiwan. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) EEW system estimated the magnitude at 6.8 within 15 seconds, resulting in no alerts for the Taipei metropolitan region, which experienced an intensity level of 5 lower (PGV ≥ 15 cm/s) on the CWA’s intensity scale. The lack of warning alerts sparked widespread complaints, highlighting concerns over the effectiveness of the current EEW system. This study compares the parameter cumulative absolute absement ( \(\:CAA\) ) with the currently used parameters — the peak vertical displacement ( \(\:Pd\) ) and the average period ( \(\:{\tau\:}_{c}\) ) — for quick magnitude estimation of the April 2, 2024, earthquake using low-cost sensors. Results indicate that \(\:Pd\) provides closer estimates of the CWA final M L but carries higher uncertainty. Conversely, \(\:CAA\) yields more stable estimates. Notably, the northward rupture of this earthquake caused overestimation when only northern stations were used and underestimation with only southern stations, underscoring the critical importance of proper station distribution. Interestingly, \(\:{\tau\:}_{c}\) demonstrates less sensitivity to rupture directionality, suggesting its potential robustness in such scenarios. These findings underscore optimizing parameter selection and station configuration for robust EEW, enabling rapid magnitude estimation to significantly reduce losses. Earth and environmental sciences/Natural hazards Earth and environmental sciences/Solid earth sciences Earthquake Earthquake Early Warning Magnitude Estimation Low-cost Sensors Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 12 Apr, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Accepted 07 Apr, 2025 Reviews received at journal 02 Apr, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 28 Mar, 2025 Reviews received at journal 27 Mar, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 26 Mar, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 26 Mar, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 26 Mar, 2025 First submitted to journal 26 Mar, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5892282","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":434538777,"identity":"635fe547-e739-4389-b2bb-c1c913bc0595","order_by":0,"name":"Yueh-Ho Lin","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"National Taiwan University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yueh-Ho","middleName":"","lastName":"Lin","suffix":""},{"id":434538778,"identity":"1d682097-62bc-4ca7-b9d5-c08b1d7c7dd9","order_by":1,"name":"Yih-Min Wu","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAu0lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDCCA2DSBsLhIUFLGkQ1kJAgVsthErTw3T5jupm37XyevUQC44O3bQx1BgcIaJE8l2N2m7ftdjGPRAKz4dw2BgmCWgzO8Jjdzm27ndgjkcAmzQvUYkaklnMgLey/SdFyAGwLM1FaJM+wld3+cy45sefMw2bJOeckJPcT0sJ3hnnbzRlldont7ckHP7wps+GXbCCghYGBwwDKYASpJSImGRjYHxCjahSMglEwCkYyAAB6qz/dtk2ZoQAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"National Taiwan University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yih-Min","middleName":"","lastName":"Wu","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-01-24 04:23:15","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5892282/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5892282/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-97748-z","type":"published","date":"2025-04-12T16:05:51+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":80558733,"identity":"2460855a-c702-4155-a0c8-64b627d89c49","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-04-14 16:16:12","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1036904,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Hualien20240403EQedited0326clean.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5892282/v1_covered_2f37f495-7aa6-4e01-87b6-44e94e59426a.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Magnitude determination for Earthquake Early Warning using P-Alert low-cost sensors during 2024 Mw7.4 Hualien, Taiwan earthquake","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Earthquake, Earthquake Early Warning, Magnitude Estimation, Low-cost Sensors","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5892282/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5892282/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eMagnitude determination in earthquake early warning (EEW) systems remains a significant challenge. On April 2, 2024, a Mw 7.4 earthquake struck Taiwan. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) EEW system estimated the magnitude at 6.8 within 15 seconds, resulting in no alerts for the Taipei metropolitan region, which experienced an intensity level of 5 lower (PGV\u0026thinsp;\u0026ge;\u0026thinsp;15 cm/s) on the CWA\u0026rsquo;s intensity scale. The lack of warning alerts sparked widespread complaints, highlighting concerns over the effectiveness of the current EEW system. This study compares the parameter cumulative absolute absement (\u003cspan class=\"InlineEquation\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"mathinline\"\u003e\\(\\:CAA\\)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e) with the currently used parameters \u0026mdash; the peak vertical displacement (\u003cspan class=\"InlineEquation\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"mathinline\"\u003e\\(\\:Pd\\)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e) and the average period (\u003cspan class=\"InlineEquation\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"mathinline\"\u003e\\(\\:{\\tau\\:}_{c}\\)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e) \u0026mdash; for quick magnitude estimation of the April 2, 2024, earthquake using low-cost sensors. Results indicate that \u003cspan class=\"InlineEquation\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"mathinline\"\u003e\\(\\:Pd\\)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e provides closer estimates of the CWA final M\u003csub\u003eL\u003c/sub\u003e but carries higher uncertainty. Conversely, \u003cspan class=\"InlineEquation\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"mathinline\"\u003e\\(\\:CAA\\)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e yields more stable estimates. Notably, the northward rupture of this earthquake caused overestimation when only northern stations were used and underestimation with only southern stations, underscoring the critical importance of proper station distribution. Interestingly, \u003cspan class=\"InlineEquation\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"mathinline\"\u003e\\(\\:{\\tau\\:}_{c}\\)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e demonstrates less sensitivity to rupture directionality, suggesting its potential robustness in such scenarios. These findings underscore optimizing parameter selection and station configuration for robust EEW, enabling rapid magnitude estimation to significantly reduce losses.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Magnitude determination for Earthquake Early Warning using P-Alert low-cost sensors during 2024 Mw7.4 Hualien, Taiwan earthquake","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-03-28 04:45:00","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5892282/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Accepted","date":"2025-04-07T08:47:31+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-04-02T10:26:46+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"156344996205557344990667880344181977522","date":"2025-03-28T05:35:25+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-03-28T01:34:58+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"266283605043989060585281961395362695665","date":"2025-03-27T00:52:31+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-03-27T00:49:42+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-03-26T11:41:33+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Scientific Reports","date":"2025-03-26T06:10:17+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"bbb4f90a-72cd-491a-adad-eae013b43b06","owner":[],"postedDate":"March 28th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[{"id":46270898,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Natural hazards"},{"id":46270899,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Solid earth sciences"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-04-14T16:11:07+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-5892282","link":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-97748-z","journal":{"identity":"scientific-reports","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Scientific Reports"},"publishedOn":"2025-04-12 16:05:51","publishedOnDateReadable":"April 12th, 2025"},"versionCreatedAt":"2025-03-28 04:45:00","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1038/s41598-025-97748-z","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-97748-z","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-5892282","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-5892282","identity":"rs-5892282","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}